The Dance
by spinzgirl
Summary: Love and war. Can the two co-exist? Allura and Keith decide to test it, but are tested in return. My first ever fanfic, this was supposed to be a one-shot for Kallura Week 2017. Picks up after the end of season 2, told from Keith and Allura's alternating points of view. Story has not been altered to match Seasons 3 and after, so some character story lines are different.
1. Chapter 1

**The Dance**

The team had taken full advantage of Zarkon's defeat to look for Shiro. At this point they'd turned up few leads and were desperate for a break. When Hunk suggested they return to Earth to see family (and eat some comfort food) Princess Allura could hardly say no.

Allura spent time with Pidge on the way and asked about her home planet. Pidge showed her pictures of cities, nature, and people. Allura wanted to see it first-hand but knew she'd get curious glances. It was decided she would alter her appearance to blend in so the girls could go shopping- after all, she never got her sparkly.

The time at the mall was great fun and she watched the Earthlings with curiosity. She questioned Pidge about the male humans' distinct interest in women. She was shorter, blonde, and had lost her Altean markings. Men were gaping at her and she felt like she was surrounded by Lance clones. Is this what human males prefer? Pidge grudgingly nodded, noting guys aren't usually drawn to girls with red hair and glasses.

After their successful trip, Pidge dropped Allura back at the castle and made her way to see her mom and tell her that Matt may still be alive. Hunk had also gone home. Lance's family was throwing a huge dance in his honor and Keith grudgingly had agreed to tag along. Lance also tried to coax Allura, but she argued that she needed to stay behind with Coran on the ship.

Once the team had cleared out the Princess decided to try on some of the dresses she'd purchased that day. Beaming she went to show Coran and he looked at her with a hint of pride but also sadness. She'd missed out on so much because of the war. It was decided. He told her he wanted some alone time and that she needed to find somewhere else to be. That dress would be perfect for a dance. Taken aback by his sudden insistence that she leave she couldn't formulate an argument quickly enough and before she knew it she was in a shuttle headed for Cuba.

Once she landed she remembered her discussion with Pidge about human preferences. She changed her appearance again to blonde hair and a shorter stature. Good thing she'd worn the shorter skirt, she thought. Otherwise she'd look like her Nanny from her childhood. The memory brought a smile to her face.

She was making her way to the dance hall when she saw a shadowy figure off in the distance looking straight at her. His lean figure, crossed arms and propped foot told her it was probably Keith, and he was probably sulking. Before she realized she was half-way to him. As soon as the light hit his face she realized it was showing a tinge of disappointment. Was he waiting for someone? Curiously her heart sank a little though she didn't turn around. He was staring at her; no, he was staring through her.

Just a few steps to the door, she tried to act like she didn't notice him. Thankfully the darkness hid the redness in her cheeks and she hurried past. Then she heard it. A low voice asking her if she would like an escort to the dance. She looked up to see Keith offering her his elbow. Not wanting to give herself away she silently nodded, smiled, and accepted his arm. The dance was in full swing and the guests were dancing and laughing, Lance in the thick of it of course.

Inside the hall Allura excused herself with a bow and raced for the bathroom. Her hands were shaking, why? Taking a few deep breaths, she stepped back out into the party but couldn't spot him in the crowd. Maybe he _was_ waiting for someone else. She didn't have much of a chance to look before someone had pulled her to the dance floor. Lance, of course.

They were halfway through a second dance when a stranger asked to cut in. Lance obliged and walked off to join a gaggle of smiling women. Allura danced with the stranger and about four others before she finally caught sight of Keith. He was still alone, and she thought maybe she caught him looking her way. She wished he would step in, just one dance with her paladin would be a nice finish to the evening.

Her current dance partner was drunk. Sloppy, handsy kind of drunk. She was about to put him in a headlock when a hand reached out and pulled the guy back by his shoulder. Keith! Apparently it took a potential fight to get him involved, but she was happy for it nonetheless. Attempting to prevent a skirmish on the dance floor she firmly took the pilot's hand and whisked him away.

He was obviously taken aback, and rather uncomfortable twirling around on his feet. She giggled at the sight but her blush gave away how much she wanted this. Her rosy cheeks were matched by his and seemed to steel his resolve to not run away. The next song slowed and their bodies found a rhythm together, swaying gently. Her arms draped his neck and his hands held her back as if they needed to keep the other from falling away.

Allura lost track of how many songs they danced to, each attempt by a stranger to steal the other away was dismissed somewhat curtly. They were going to leave the dance floor together, if ever. The Red pilot's warmth made her feel she may melt into him, and she pulled tighter to test her theory. His muscled arms responded by wrapping tighter around her waist, her hips and chest squeezing forward into his battle-hardened body on their own accord.

Now at her breaking point, she let out a breathless sigh. His body froze. Her gaze met his as he leaned forward, tilting her chin up so his lips met hers. It was a brief kiss, an unsure kiss. The tingling she felt turned to tremors. Excitement swirled with fear then gave way to sorrow. He wasn't kissing Allura, he was kissing a girl he met at a dance on earth. Why couldn't he have fallen in love with her? The Princess' soul was being rent in two, tears welling in her eyes. She stepped back, turning to run away from her torment.

A firm hand grabbed her arm, yanking her backwards. Keith's face, confused yet determined, leaned to her ear. His breath on her neck started a shock that ran the length of her spine. The words he spoke were quiet but she heard them clearly, and her heart skipped a beat.

" _Allura, I don't know if we'll have this chance again. Can't we at least have tonight?"_


	2. Chapter 2

**The Training**

Months had passed since their visit to Earth and _that_ moment with Allura. Keith was busy looking for clues to Shiro's whereabouts while convincing the team that he could actually fill the Captain's boots in the interim. The Princess met with him to discuss logistics but Coran was always asked to join so they were never really alone. He felt like she was avoiding him.

No, there was no time for chasing fantasies. Other than occasionally meeting her eyes in passing there was little indication that anything had transpired between them. In fact, based on whispers he'd overheard, the team seemed to think Allura was still hung up on him being part Galra. It hurt more than he'd let on, but they were probably right and he couldn't blame her.

Zarkon was still reeling from their attack and so they had run into little resistance when freeing planets from his rule. Voltron wasn't needed and they got by with four lions easily. It wasn't uncommon for one or two at a time to fly in and clean house, but Keith was still wary of the possibilities and wanted to recruit a new paladin. The team of course resisted. Coran offered to fly but was rebuffed by Allura, who insisted on taking on a lion herself. It was decided she would fly Red and Keith would take over in Black.

Since he'd already flown Black before he didn't feel the need to do much training but wanted to bond with the lion in case Zarkon tried to get it again. Allura also needed to form a connection with difficult Red. Coran found an unoccupied moon that would work well for training purposes. In the meantime, the other paladins would go to a nearby planet that was still recovering from a Galra attack and help rebuild.

Allura had never flown anything but the castle so Keith put Red on autopilot so he could land it properly. He could tell she was a bit miffed at the insistence but when they were pilots she answered to him. That was how it had to be, there couldn't be two Captains after all. They took off from the castle in silence as they began their journey to the barren moon Coran had programmed into their guidance system.

Suddenly the Red lion lurched forward and sped towards their destination. Furiously Keith took off after it. _What the hell, Princess?_ He tried to radio her, no response. If this was how things were going to be it was going to be a very long training session.

Black caught up to Red just as they were almost touching ground, just in time for Keith to see Allura being ejected into a forest. He was formulating his speech about her not pressing any buttons-which he warned her not to do back in the hangar-when the hatch opened and he, too, was being hurtled to the ground. Anger turned to confusion as he watched the two ships take off into the horizon then disappear.

Now panic was beginning to set in: first, he had to find Allura; second, he had to figure out what planet they were on. Coran said it was a barren moon yet there were trees, small animals and he could hear the whoosh of running water nearby. Swiftly he worked his way through the trees to where he saw the Princess drop. What was Red doing? Granted she was temperamental, but rejecting Allura completely? Black he could understand, he didn't feel much like a leader. And he was used to rejection.

Working to calm himself he repeated Shiro's best advice. _Patience yields focus._ His eyes couldn't see Allura but if he was still…there, found her! In the direction of the water, he ran hoping that she'd been able to use her jet pack to land safely on the shoreline. It wasn't long before he got his answer; the excitement he felt seeing her standing by the river was only temporary, however. She was surrounded by creatures that appeared to be hunting food.

Knowing his tendency to rush in to situations didn't always yield positive results caused him to stop in his tracks. His impulsiveness his worst trait- causing him to do stupid things like run away from the team- usually created more hurt than help. Or worse, kissing Allura. That mistake seemed to hurt only him at least. At this moment it didn't matter, what would his next move be? Run in with his sword swinging or approach cautiously to see if the creatures were friendly?

The pain shot through Keith's body like a dagger, blood from his side staining the white of his uniform. One of the pack must have picked up his scent and jumped him from behind, its sharp claws tearing his flesh through the soft part of his suit. An angry scream alerted the Princess to his presence and she rushed to aid her injured paladin. Realizing they were outnumbered she grabbed him by the arm and threw him in the river, jumping in herself just behind. The water was cold and he was struggling to stay afloat. All he could think about was keeping her safe though.

Further downstream she helped him to the shore then went to get wood for a fire. His mind was alight with everything from pain to anger to concern to embarrassment. Oddly the last was the most punishing. He was there to save Allura, not the other way around. He'd always been so protective of her, always ready to engage whenever danger was present. How foolish of him to let his thoughts get the better of him. Still, he had good reason.

The last few months where a blur. The dance was the best night of his life by far, yet he couldn't settle his doubts. Was she really there for Lance, and he was just the runner-up? Maybe she just got caught up in the moment and had second thoughts after getting back to the castle. For him it was a culmination of everything he'd felt since they first met. Maybe he wasn't strong like Shiro or suave like Lance, maybe he wasn't royalty, it didn't mean he didn't have a chance.

And what about the lions? Oh yeah, that. Lousy pieces of junk, just leaving them there to die. Well, one of them at least. He made a silent vow to keep the Princess alive, no matter the cost. That's all he could do. His body was shaking from the cold and from the loss of blood. The sound of cracking branches startled him; thankfully he was met with the concerned gaze of the woman who had stolen his heart.

The fire was welcome to his frail body although it did little to stop the muscles that were beginning to convulse. With her assistance, he removed the armor from his torso and peeled back the tunic to expose the wound. It didn't look good from his point of view. Allura's expression did little to quell his fear. At least the bleeding had slowed.

He needed to fight the urge to sleep. She had placed his head on her lap to provide some comfort and he would have given anything to stay there. He knew that talking would help, but what could he say? Fear of rejection kept him silent; fear of dying kept him alert. Finally, the Princess spoke. Her voice was always the key to his calmness. Today it scared him.

"Why have you been avoiding me? I've been trying to talk to you for weeks. Did I do something wrong?"

Keith was confused. She was avoiding him, wasn't she? He scrolled through mental pictures of every interaction since that night. Was he subconsciously trying to minimize contact with her instead of the other way around?

"I'm…I'm sorry Princess. I didn't mean to. I…"

"Did you change your mind? I don't understand."

Tears began to burst from her eyes. It was his fault. This was far worse than his physical pain, he was sure his heart had stopped and it was because he had hurt her. His hand gently reached for her face to wipe it dry. With what little force he could muster he sat up to place a long overdue kiss on her lips.

He winced at the discomfort but wrapped her in his arms to pull her closer. Once again, his fear of being abandoned had caused him to nearly miss the greatest opportunity of his life. Now they were abandoned on a planet with no means of rescue and he was going to die leaving too much unsaid.

"Allura, I will always be here for you. As your paladin and, hopefully, as your lover. You will never be so far away that I can't find you."

"Keith, how did you find me? My com wasn't even working, it should have taken you hours."

"Your energy called me to you. Maybe it's a Galra thing, but that's how I knew it was you at the dance hall."

Her eyes flickered. "It's not a Galra thing. Only Alteans can sense each other. Do you think that means…?"

"I'm part Altean too?"

At that moment, they heard the growl of the lions approaching them. Was this their intention, to get this information out? Or was it to bring them back together? It didn't matter, Keith was safe now. And so was Allura.


	3. Chapter 3

**The Birthday**

Allura was walking down the corridor, listening to Pidge talk excitedly about her latest discovery. After the last battle, she had pulled data from a downed Galra ship and found Earth was mentioned in relation to the Blade of Marmora. Intel followed a ship of resistance fighters there and surely that included Matt.

Pidge had hacked Garrison Headquarters' computers again to see if anything was on their radar but so far had come up emptyhanded. However, she did have a piece of information she was sure would interest the Princess. Keith's birthday was next week, maybe they could throw a surprise party for him. Allura didn't know much about human birthdays aside from what Hunk had told her. She often wondered how old she'd be based on the Earth calendar. Keith would tease her for being much older but that he'd forgive half of the ten-thousand years she had on him. That usually earned him a bruise on his arm.

She sighed. Age wasn't the only thing they didn't have in common. So many traditions, words, even capabilities. Sometimes it seemed insurmountable, yet knowing he may possibly have Altean ancestry soothed her concerns.

Allura realized she had been ignoring Pidge and tried to catch up to the conversation. As they rounded the corner, they bumped into Keith on his way to the pool. He was wearing shorts with a towel wrapped around his neck. She couldn't help but notice his daily training was paying off, and blushed when she realized she was staring a bit too appreciatively at his battle-ready form.

Pidge cleared her throat to excuse herself to go do something. Neither of them were really paying attention to what she said. Since the training incident they'd had precious little time alone and could barely manage to steal a kiss now and then. Sometimes when others were present Keith would lightly place his hand on the small of her back, or let his fingers brush her hand, never making any grand gestures. They'd agreed now wasn't the time to move forward, a decision neither was happy about.

So here they were, alone, for who knows how long. Allura hadn't seen him without a shirt since the training incident. His scar was light yet it caught her eye. She instinctively ran her finger across the shiny skin, understanding its significance. It wasn't his scar. It was their scar, bearing the memory of the time they almost lost it all.

Keith must have been thinking the same, leaning forward to kiss her forehead. He placed his hand over hers, pressing it into his side. His unencumbered hand guided her empty palm to his chest where she could feel his heart. As calm as his demeanor appeared on the outside his pulse was racing on the inside.

"So, what were you and Pidge talking about?

Her mind blanked, looking down at this scar the first word she could muster was _birthday._

Perplexed at the simple statement he stalled his response. Glancing in the direction of her eyes he simply chuckled when he answered "No, it's called a bathing suit. If it was a birthday suit I'd be completely naked."

Now the Princess was completely red-faced. That wasn't at all what she meant though she was glad he hadn't caught on that she knew.

"Well, that's how Alteans swim!" she retorted. Now Keith was embarrassed, and he stepped back to excuse himself.

The week passed rather quickly. Thanks to all the paladins helping the party was a successful surprise. Keith even seemed to enjoy it, laughing along with the others as they told stories from their pasts.

Because Hunk handled the food, included the birthday cake, Allura decided to surprise him by inviting Shay to the castle as his date. To say he was pleased by her arrival would have been an understatement. While happy to see them together, the Princess was a bit jealous of their openness in their relationship. They could be together and nobody would judge them.

After dinner Coran brought out the cake. The Alteans thought it strange to set it on fire just to make a wish. Still she was elated when Keith threw her a smile before he easily blew out the flames. Now she knew his wish would come true. The team cheered their leader and raised their drinks in a toast.

After each of his friends said a few words on his behalf the attention turned to Allura. She was caught unprepared, not knowing she'd be called on to speak.

"Princess, isn't this where you offer your mate a kiss?" Shay asked quietly.

Hunk, Pidge, and Coran all looked at each other knowingly. Lance appeared confused and was going to counter her statement when Keith spoke up.

"So, you guys know already?" he asked in a joking tone. It seemed he was testing to see if they were being serious.

"Well, Pidge worked it out and Coran confirmed it. You guys should figure out where all of the security cameras are, by the way."

"Gee, thanks Hunk."

All eyes then went to Lance, who was still processing the data and was sure they were all just having a laugh. Pidge handed him a piece of cake to distract him, inviting him to go play video games in the rec room. Hunk then excused himself so he could take Shay back home. Coran announced that he needed to fix some…stuff…in the…somewhere. He shot Keith a quick warning glance before leaving the newly official couple alone for the night.

"So, did your wish come true my love?"

"I don't know, we'll find out soon enough, Princess."

"What did you wish for?"

"Oh, a swim in the pool with a beautiful woman. Maybe after she'll fall asleep in my arms in her nice, soft bed."

"You don't think that's a tall order, even if it is…"

"I'll even wear my birthday suit."

"Well, you did blow out all the candles."


	4. Chapter 4

**The Resistance**

Mornings were getting tougher. Keith was back to sleeping in his room after an unfortunate incident involving an alarm and misplaced clothing. That's not to say he did every night, but for the sake of the team it seemed prudent. Still it was lonely and he hated it.

In his sleepy haze, he almost missed Coran's suggestion that they visit the Blade of Marmora. Pidge's intel contained some information that she couldn't completely decrypt. There had been a lot of chatter about the return of someone of importance to the Galra Empire so the team needed to check into it.

Keith swung by the kitchen to grab food for himself and the Princess. He thought he'd surprise her with breakfast in bed. She'd been so tired lately and was sleeping in when she got the chance. Plus, he knew she wouldn't be happy with what he was going to tell her so he didn't want others around to hear the argument he was sure they would have.

 _He loved watching her sleep._ Every chance he had he'd sneak in her room early just to look at her resting peacefully. Today was no different. And every time he wondered just how he was the lucky bastard who managed to win her love. She must have heard him enter the bedchamber; she mumbled incoherently and stretched her slender arms, motioning for him to join her if only for a moment.

He happily obliged, brushing her hair away from her face so he could cover it in small kisses. Her grateful smile made him wish they had longer to stay, but the castle was already on its way to the rendezvous point.

"Good morning my love." He never tired of hearing her say that.

"Good morning, beautiful."

Allura sat up in the bed when she noticed the tray of goodies he'd brought her. Keith went to fetch them while working up the nerve to give her the news. She was happy that the resistance fighters had agreed to help. That changed to anger when he told her she was staying at the castle. He was taking Pidge and Lance; she would need to stay behind in case they had to make a hasty exit.

She couldn't really argue the logic but hated being left out, again. Maybe it was the extra sleep or the fact that she had a full stomach, whatever it was she agreed to the plan. The Captain placed a kiss on her pouty lips and told her how much he was going to miss her, then headed back to the control room to get a status report.

As the castle neared the Blade's coordinates the Red, Blue and Green lions took off towards their destination. Kolivan was there to greet them, being the last of the Galra they had come to trust. He directed one of his technical staff to assist Pidge with the encrypted data. It seemed he was just as interested in who the intercepted messages were about as they were.

Finally, the code was broken. _Prince Lotor_. The name meant nothing to the paladins but seemed to strike fear into the eyes of the others in the room. Another name seemed important: Pollux, a planet once allied with Altea.

Pollux was inhabited by both Alteans and Galra since before the war. When war between the two seemed inevitable many who feared their families being torn apart decided to colonize a new planet. This included families from the royal houses, advisors and even a paladin of Voltron. The pilot was a female of Altean and Galra decent, considered a part of Alfor's family because of her bravery in battle. She had been commanded to keep the Red lion there for safe-keeping and was placed in a cryogenic chamber to be awoken after Zarkon was defeated.

Unfortunately, Haggar managed to find the pilot and her lion; they were taken to the main station to wait for the other lions to be captured. Some years ago, a resistance agent freed her from the pod and took her to a planet not conquered by the Empire. No one knew what happened to her from there.

Keith took in all this information with careful consideration. He was afraid to say what he was thinking.

"Could that paladin be your mother?" asked Pidge.

"Very possibly, it would make sense don't you think?" Keith could barely breathe.

The revelations didn't end there. Lotor was Zarkon's son and was crueler than his father. He'd been banished after multiple attempts to overthrow the King and take the throne for himself. It was believed that he had been sent to oversee Pollux as it was rich in resources. There was a good chance they could find him there before he left to aid his father in the war.

One more thing, Allura had been promised to him in an arranged marriage before he alliance fell apart. He still felt he held a claim to her and her kingdom, what little was left of it.

The Black Paladin bristled at this. Lotor would never lay a hand on Allura, and Keith would give his life to make sure.

Back on the castle ship the team sat down to share what they had learned. Everyone was having trouble digesting the enormity of what was given them. It was decided that they would leave for planet Pollux in two days so they could prepare as well as rest for what could potentially be a large battle.

Keith stopped the Princess in the hall. He was still shaken at the idea of her being a direct target for the Prince.

"I'm staying with you tonight. No, indefinitely."

"I'll be fine, love, you need to get some sleep."

"How can I sleep if I'm worried about you? I'll bring some extra clothes, just in case."

"Fine, but if you steal the covers I'll put you on the floor."

"Like you'll be able to pry my arms away from you."


	5. Chapter 5

**The Spy**

Allura woke up early the day they were set to infiltrate the planet Pollux. Usually she would be energized and would take no time getting started with her daily routine. Today she just wanted to curl up next to Keith and sleep a bit longer. Rolling over to give him a quick cuddle she was surprised to see the space next to her empty.

 _Oh yeah, the fight._ She'd forgotten how she'd kicked him out last night. It was stupid, really, but his insistence that she stay behind on the mission annoyed her and she snapped. They'd both been under a lot of stress the last two days, planning their course of action with little intel on their target. So, when he told her he'd rather she sit the operation out- even though she was a necessary piece of it- well, the conversation quickly disintegrated.

Something told her she wasn't alone. Her eyes darted around to check the darkened corners of the room. She could just make out the silhouette of her sleeping lover on the couch near the door. Despite her residual anger for his transgression she couldn't stop the smile that overtook her face. He really was always going to be there for her, no matter what.

After dressing quickly, she stopped to place a gentle kiss on her lover's forehead before making her way to the bridge to relieve Coran.

Her advisor was going to have to wait a bit longer. Just as she placed her lips on his face his arm flew up around her and brought her crashing down on top of him. She put up little struggle, mostly for show, before collapsing into his grasp and telling him how sorry she was for making him sleep there. Then it hit her.

"Wait, how long have you been awake?"

"Long enough. What a view to wake up to, makes up for this pain in my neck."

Unsure if she should punch him or kiss him, she opted for the latter before excusing herself to start her shift. Keith didn't make it easy for her to leave, and he certainly owed her one. _I'll be sure to collect on that tonight._

Coran was relieved to see the Princess. It was not like her to run late and he was visibly concerned about her. After a short debriefing, he was excused to go get some rest while the castle made its way into Lotor's territory. Not long after seeing him off she was surprised when he returned, but in full paladin uniform. The shock only lasted a second when she surmised what was really going on.

"Keith, you look ridiculous. You've got the coloring all wrong."

He shot her a glance that told her he was disappointed in himself. Since finding out he was part Altean he'd been trying to learn their ability to disguise themselves. Allura was planning to go into the castle as a guard and he was doing everything in his power to take her place. To his chagrin, he'd been unable to master certain aspects or hold the form for a long time, and she feared he'd be discovered and captured. Or worse, killed.

After the other paladins had joined them and the plan was finalized they prepared for departure. Pidge would fly down in Green using the cloaking device to capture a security bot and reprogram it to accompany the Princess. Yes, she had pulled rank and was going to fly down with Pidge. She waited in the hangar as long as possible for Keith to come see her off. He'd left in a huff when the meeting ended and no one knew where he went. When she got back they were going to have a long talk.

As the lion approached Pollux it began to be very apparent how bad things were there. The landscape mostly barren except for some twig like trees and the occasional patch of brown grass. The surface was pock-marked from years of being bombarded. In the distance, they could see the dilapidated remains of the castle, a mere shadow of its former glory.

Pidge landed the craft behind the ledge of a large crater, hoping it would prevent them from being picked up on any Galra radar systems. They noticed a small group of slaves that were surrounded by troops. Allura was alarmed at the condition of the workers. She made a mental promise to rescue every one of them as she climbed quietly out of the hatch and dropped to the ground.

Next thing was to get a uniform. Most of the soldiers were robots so she had to draw an actual Galran guard away to steal his uniform. She removed her armor and hid it behind an outcropping of rocks then threw herself to the ground as if she'd passed out from a long day's work. When the guard approached her she easily overpowered him and knocked him unconscious. After donning his uniform, she took her armor back to the Green lion. There she was met by a grinning Pidge who apparently had an easier time finding, and naming, her new pet Rover II. That girl never ceased to amaze Allura.

After double-checking the schematics of the castle given them by the Blade it was decided that she should enter the castle from an entrance naturally darkened and more easily accessible. Pidge would stay behind and watch the monitors, beaming back Allura's position to the team lest a quick extraction be required.

Once again, the Princess took on the form of a Galra soldier. She couldn't help but remember the circumstances of the last time she'd done that. _Shiro, we haven't stopped looking for you. Hang in there._

Getting into the castle was much easier than she anticipated. It seemed there was a rather small battalion on this planet despite it being overseen by Lotor. Perhaps that was punishment for his constant betrayal of his father, Zarkon. Nonetheless she was slightly suspicious and made every effort to stay out of sight.

The entrance she'd taken was near the dungeons. Sounds of torture, of despair coated the walls with sadness. Fighting the urge to run save the poor souls she steeled herself and worked her way slowly towards the upwards stairwell.

"Psst. Over here. Please help us!"

Allura swung her head around to see who was speaking. From behind a heavy door she could see a small face through the window. It was a young boy with fiery red hair. Not wanted to give herself away she hesitated to speak but approached the cell cautiously nonetheless. The energy emanating from it was strong, something she hadn't felt since before the war.

"It's okay, I know you're Altean. Please help my sister and I. She's very sick and needs help!"

The boy moved away from the door, affording her a view of his sister sleeping on the floor. A chill went down her spine. _She looks just like me!_ Indeed, with few exceptions they could easily be mistaken for one another.

"Who are you?" The Princess sounded almost accusatory as she felt this surely was a trap.

"I'm Prince Bandor. That's my sister, Princess Romelle."

He explained that they were from the royal family of Pollux. For years, they were part of Zarkon's alliance, but after their father died they'd attempted an uprising against Lotor. Allura didn't need to be told how that ended.

The Princess felt a mix of excitement and sadness at the sight of her fellow Alteans. And the fact that she and the figure in the cell looked so much alike meant they must be related. She couldn't wait to free them and take them back to the castle. _Lance will be thrilled, too._ She giggled at the thought. Keith might be too, she surmised, given how they'd left things on the ship.

She shook her head to snap herself out of such a horrid thought. But in her stupor, she'd not heard the footsteps come from behind. There was a quick, sharp pain to the back of her head then total blackness.


	6. Chapter 6

**The Knight**

"Pidge! Something has happened to Allura!"

The pilot of the Green Lion jumped in her seat. Coms were off to prevent being intercepted; she realized the voice came from inside the cockpit. Her head swung around to see Keith standing right behind her, his eyes panicked and his voice breathless. Based on his stance it was apparent he'd been confined to a small space for quite some time. Now it was obvious why no one could find him after his stormy exit. It was also assured that Allura was going to be furious at him for stowing away like that.

"How do you know something happened? She hasn't alerted us to anything."

"Because she was there a minute ago, now I can't sense her at all."

Pidge didn't argue. He knew she understood that this was like the experience she'd had with the Olkari and Green. Quickly she plotted Allura's location. The Princess was in the dungeon, and she was not moving. At all. The security bot seemed to be offline as well. The team genius- who was never one to give up easily- set about reconnecting to Rover's camera. It didn't look good from where they were sitting. Keith was about to leave the lion when he realized that it was taking off toward the castle. Pidge threw him an understanding nod before ejecting him onto the ground just feet from the entryway.

The door was still sparsely guarded and Keith overpowered the sentries with a few swipes of his blade. He grabbed their weapons but the uniforms were of little use to him if he couldn't transform. He'd just have to improvise.

The dungeon was large so he paused to figure out which way to go. She was close but in a more heavily guarded area. He'd have to assess the situation once he got there. The team was always hounding him to be more cautious but time was not on his side today. If anything happened to her…

 _Keith, I don't know where you are but please find me!_

That voice, that was Allura's voice. It didn't echo through the corridor, however, and it didn't buzz through the coms. Her voice was in his head. She was reaching out to him and she was terrified.

 _I'll be there soon, Princess. Hold on a bit longer. I love you!_

With that he felt a bit more at ease, not just for himself but also for her. She would be comforted that she'd be rescued soon. He'd promised a long time ago that he'd always be there for her and he meant it. Every. Single. Time.

Once he reached the floor where her cell was he took a quick count of the guards from the darkened stairway he'd just ascended. Eight robots, two Galra. He'd had worse odds than that. Just as he was about to leap into action one of the security bots began firing on the soldiers. Ever reliable, Pidge had come through once again. Getting to the Princess just got a lot easier.

Allura, now in prison rags, sat slumped on the dirty floor. Keith blasted the lock and rushed in to her. Her countenance was duller than usual, and in the dark she looked at him as if he were a stranger. Something wasn't right. Upon reaching her, it was clear that this wasn't his Princess. From the shadows stepped another figure, somewhat smaller than Keith and limping.

"If you're here for your friend she's gone. They just took her to Lotor's chambers."

At this point the plan was pretty much a bust. Nothing had gone right and now the Princess was in even bigger danger. He radioed Pidge to bring Green back to extract the two prisoners in the cell. Intuition told him that they would be important to the rebellion. The younger paladin would also send an S.O.S. to the castle ship to alert the other team members to be on standby. If he wasn't out in fifteen dobashes they would need to fly in with lasers blasting.

Now, where had they taken Allura? Her signal had disappeared from his screen and the blueprints he had didn't notate which room belonged to Lotor. He hazarded a guess that a spoiled prince would choose the largest one so that's where he was going to look first. Luckily there were plenty of minimally guarded back hallways leading to the suite. His sword was all he needed to cut through any obstacles which allowed him to approach the chamber unnoticed.

He reached a small doorway to the room, likely a servant entrance, and pushed it open just enough to see inside. Shadows could be seen and voices heard. One of them was Allura's, of that he was certain. He'd been on the receiving end of that angry tone one too many times, but now it had a tinge of fear that unnerved him. Keith tried to make out the words but only got bits and pieces. _Prize. Marriage. Go to hell._ That last one was his Princess; he loves it when she gets fierce.

The Captain pushed the door open a bit more to allow space for Rover II to get inside the room. If he went in shooting there was a chance of hitting Allura so he had to be careful. Pidge was busy with the prisoners so he couldn't hope for cover fire but at least it would give him better intel. The screen that popped up from his gauntlet showed Lotor hovering over the bed, his prisoner pinned at the wrists and struggling to break free. Thankfully no one else was in the room.

 _Allura, I'm right outside. I'm going to get you out of there. Don't move._

With that he burst into the bedchamber, firing furiously at the demon hovering over the Princess. Lotor leapt backwards in surprise before drawing his sword to swing at his attacker. Keith dropped the gun and pulled his ceremonial blade, stepping away from the bed to allow Allura an escape route.

 _Run! I'll be right behind you!_

He lunged towards her captor, their weapons ringing out loudly as they engaged. She jumped off the bed, sweeping up the gun as she ran out of the room. Now the Black Paladin felt more comfortable knowing she was safe and could concentrate on the fight at hand. He'd reached the highest level on the training deck so defeating this soft, lazy oaf should be a cinch. But the words that would soon fly from the villain's lips caused him to freeze.

"Kill me and you will never find your friend, Shiro. I know where he is."

This announcement gave Lotor the opening he needed. He threw the smaller human backwards while swinging violently with his sword. The blow managed to pierce Keith's armor just under his shoulder. Mercifully the fact that he was falling prevented the sword's point from going too deep but it was enough to weaken the already exhausted young man. Looking up he saw the evil Galra Prince standing over him, blade hovering just above his neck.

 _Allura, I'm sorry. I tried._

Just then he heard gunfire. Lotor took a hit to his shoulder and the sword flew from his hand. He stumbled through the larger door only to be met by a melee in the hallway. There was a firefight and- based on the voices he could hear yelling- he was sure the cavalry had arrived. Lance and Hunk were taking out as many guards as they could and the rest of the troops were fleeing the castle. Looking to the other side of the room he could make out the fuzzy figure of his beloved. She must have been the one who landed the hit on Lotor.

"I told you to run. You never listen to me, do you?"

"You don't listen to me, either, so we're even."

"He could have killed you."

"I couldn't leave my handsome knight in his clutches. He was determined to marry Altean royalty. If it wasn't me, it could've been you!"

"Like he'd get an heir from me." It hurt him to laugh.

"I have dibs on that anyway, my love."

Keith blushed almost as much as she did when they both realized the implication of her statement.

"Are you proposing to me?" He smiled, then closed his eyes as the severity of his injuries began to overtake him.


	7. Chapter 7

**The Prince**

Allura was usually pretty patient when one of her paladins was in the cryopod. This time was very different, however, due to the presence of two mysterious Alteans. And, of course, that unfinished conversation between her and Keith. Her words are always so measured that she surprised even herself when she blurted it out. The truth was that she had thought about starting a family with him after the war was over- if the war is ever over.

It didn't help matters that Coran was excited about the young Prince that she'd rescued, making little comments here and there about him being a proper suitor once he was older. The idea of an arranged marriage for political purposes would have been acceptable to her ten thousand years ago; today it seemed archaic, given the universe seemed to afford her new ideas every single day.

Bandor was the first out, his injuries being the least serious. Pidge and Hunk helped him down the steps so he could sit and rest. He was obviously a bit younger than the paladins and was closer to Pidge's height, his hair even more fiery and untamable than hers. Allura stepped to take his hand to welcome him. She wanted him to feel safe in the castle but also wanted to speak with him about his planet and about Prince Lotor.

He stared at the technology around him, mouth agape when he realized they were in space. The team gave each other looks reminiscent of when Lance had a similar reaction when they'd left Arus. After quick introductions of the team, Pidge offered to show the young man around the ship while they waited for his sister to emerge from her chamber. Although he was obviously curious to see the rest of the castle he was not willing to leave his sister with strangers in case she woke in his absence. Pidge nodded her understanding and went to get him some food instead.

Allura looked up to see how much longer the wait would be for her near-twin. The other Princess was a bit shorter, her hair a shade darker. She looked older but likely because of her treatment at the hands of the Galra, not because of her age. She was beautiful, though, which did not go unnoticed by a certain Blue pilot. Lance had placed himself directly in front of the pod which prompted her to pray that he'd be much more of a gentleman should the woman stumble exiting it.

Her prayers were answered. The Princess from Pollux stepped only slightly unsteadily from her pod. Lance bowed while extending her his hand, which she took graciously, and led her to where her brother was sitting. Again the team greeted her excitedly and she smiled at the friendliness she'd been denied for so long. She turned to hug her brother, tears in their eyes as they embraced each other. They may not have been close in age but it was certain that they had a deep concern and affection for one another.

"I'm sorry Romelle, Bandor, but we do need to ask some questions of you."

The conversation began with the people who were being held on the planet. They were all citizens of Pollux who had been forced into slavery when Lotor took over several years ago. At first, they had allowed the people to be used for labor, thinking it would benefit the planet financially since they were part of the Galra alliance. However, once they saw how horribly their people were treated they tried to overthrow Lotor. Failing a coup both had been thrown into the dungeon.

Romelle caught the evil Prince's eye and he had tried to place her in his harem. She'd heard many stories of his attempts to murder his father, and that since Zarkon was dying he hoped Voltron would finish him off. He didn't seem too confident since the pilot of the Black Lion had been captured in the last battle…

"Wait, did you say captured?" Hunk nearly jumped out of his seat at the news.

Lance couldn't believe his ears. "Are they holding him on Pollux as well?"

Romelle bit her lip and looked down at her hands; Bandor clenched his fist and set his jaw. Whatever news they had was not going to be good, that much they all understood.

"When prisoners are more dangerous to the Empire they all go to the same place. No one has ever come back from it. Everyone who speaks of it refers to it as the Planet of Doom."

Allura knew they had to find this planet and to find it fast. If they were holding Shiro there then he was in more danger than they had realized. Coran left to contact the Blade of Marmora. Perhaps they had intel on this prison, and with any luck an inside person as well. It would be their most dangerous mission yet and they couldn't risk going in blind as they had on Pollux. She shivered when she thought of Lotor looming over her. It was a thought she pushed from her mind to get back to the subject at hand.

"Yes, regarding Pollux. We need to rescue your people." The Princess was determined to keep her promise, even if she'd made it to herself.

Brother and sister looked at each other with determination; they knew this was their best chance of saving their people. They gave her all the information she needed to set a plan in motion. Since Lotor had abandoned the planet and taken most of his ships and troops with him it should be easy enough to accomplish.

It was decided that the Olkari would handle the logistics of getting the people off the planet while Voltron would offer cover fire if needed. The rescued civilians would be sent to a few different planets to prevent Zarkon from attempting to recapture them. Former military officers would commandeer any ships left behind and serve under Prince Bandor. These forces would be sent to protect the planets taking in the refugees. Once this was accomplished they would finally go to Planet Doom to save Shiro and put the team back together.

Pidge was beaming. Lance and Hunk were chatting excitedly about how they would go in, guns blazing, to save their friend. Romelle and Bandor began asking questions about the castle, the team, and about Voltron.

Allura was listening so intently to them that she missed Keith stepping up behind her. She gasped as his arms encircled her waist as his lips brushed the back of her neck. Once she realized she'd neglected to greet him she spun around to kiss him, knocking him over in the process. Falling on top of him she forgot all formalities, planting her lips over every inch of his face before finding his lips. After what felt like not nearly long enough she pulled away, her face feeling heated from a combination of lust and embarrassment.

"I just got out of that stupid cryopod, you trying to put me back in?"

"If you can't show a little appreciation that _can_ be arranged."

He smiled as he returned her affections before standing to brush himself off. Allura introduced him to their new allies and excitedly told him the news and what they had planned. She could see he was overjoyed that they were so much closer to finding his lost friend. Although he never spoke much about it she knew the men had a long-standing connection and Shiro was the closest thing to family that Keith had.

Watching her young Captain discuss the strategy with the others she realized that their former leader had been right. Keith had become their leader, their rock. Pride filled her as she knew that, no matter what Coran thought, this man was the one who was going to be by her side forever. The best part was that he never lost himself, his transformation leaving unchecked his passion and his instinct. Things that had drawn her to him in the first place were still there, under the outer layer of poise and control.

And she loved him even more for it.

"Princess, come sit with me. I'd like to get your input on this."

She happily obliged, squeezing his knee playfully as she joined them.

 _We'll finish our other conversation tonight, my prince._


	8. Chapter 8

**The Discovery**

Keith stared up at the ceiling, his mind swirling with everything that had happened in the last few days. Almost dying at the hands of that bastard Lotor shook him up more than he would ever admit to anyone. Losing his life was one thing, but leaving his Princess was another. After all, she did say she wanted to have children with him, some day.

Well, at least that's what he thought she meant. They were both so exhausted when they went to bed the night before that any attempt at a coherent conversation was tossed out the window and they settled for falling asleep in each other's arms. Not that he was complaining, he loved feeling her soft skin pressed against his, her hand stroking his arm and his fingers playing with her hair. Still, those words.

Maybe she was just trying to keep him from passing out. Maybe she meant something else entirely. It was not easy letting her sleep when he wanted to drag an answer out of her so badly. So, when he heard a slight groan rising from her side of the bed he decided to make a move. Her ears being her most sensitive feature he reached over to tease the exposed one with his tongue. She sleepily swatted him away but her eyes began to flutter open. He nestled closer so that their noses were almost touching.

"Good morning beautiful."

"Good morning, my love."

He didn't want to jump right into the question but it blurted out before he could stop himself.

"So, dibs huh?"

"Oh, um, well, only if you want children. Some day. I mean, if we…"

"I'd love that."

Her smile brightened and for that moment everything else was forgotten.

"Guys, I need you in the control room, STAT!" Pidge's voice crackled over the coms, evaporating the beauty of the moment.

By the time they arrived at the bridge all the other paladins were waiting impatiently. Pidge hated having to repeat herself so she refused to speak until all were present. Lance tried to tease it out of her but his charm was falling flat. Hunk knew better than to even try.

Once everyone was settled they listened intently to Pidge's- to put it bluntly- data dump. The Blade had little intel on Doom since their presence had been detected within the Galra Empire. The computer hacking genius had been up all night trying to decode information to help develop a plan to find and extract Shiro from the prison. Anything less than precise preparation and execution could mean more losses for the team.

"We aren't going to Doom. We're going to Earth." Pidge's tone of voice convinced Keith that this was not a joke.

He wanted to save Shiro now, and he knew the rest of the team did as well, but Keith allowed her to continue to see where this was headed. She'd kept constant tabs on Galaxy Garrison after seeing a spike in chatter, which sharply dropped off into radio silence. That meant something big was going on and she wanted to know about it. He knew her reasons were personal but felt it was a good idea to keep a close eye on their home planet in general.

"I believe I've found my brother, Matt. And I think he escaped from Planet Doom."

Even the mice fell silent as the enormity of her words filled the room. Keith worried that she was getting over-excited and might be headed for disappointment. She'd not been able to delve into the deeper parts of the Garrison's network recently and was constantly cursing the new IT security person who was thwarting her at every turn. It was as if they could anticipate her moves, which gave her an idea.

"Matt and I used to practice hacking together. He knows all of my tricks, it has to be him."

Keith quietly pondered this, the big question lurking in the back of his mind but begging to be spoken.

"How do you know he escaped from Doom?"

"At first I didn't know, but the letters M, O, O, and D kept popping up. It never meant much to me until yesterday and the pieces finally fit together. Matt was sending me a message."

Once again, the room was abuzz. They all agreed that this should be looked in to, especially if this could help save Shiro. Garrison headquarters had taken great precautions to keep this secret so sneaking in would be their best shot of getting to Matt. Luckily, they all knew the building inside and out so getting past security shouldn't be an option. Since Pidge had done all the legwork so far, Keith decided to ask her to work up a scenario to get them in. Her response was surprising.

"We go through the front door."

"Um, don't you think all of our student access cards have been shut off by now?" Lance gave a confused look to her then to Hunk. It would make sense after the three cadets just disappeared one night.

Keith was curious himself. Once he washed out he'd tried to get back in to retrieve Shiro's belongings but couldn't get past the entrance. He looked to Pidge quizzically, hoping for an explanation that didn't involve too much technical jargon.

"Our badges are active in the system. I think he's counting on us coming there."

That settled that. They had to go, there was no way around it.

The Olkari ships hailed the bridge as they arrived in the planet's orbit. The pilots flew the lions down to join them and took care of the few Galra fleets that dared try to defend the slave operation. Once all the citizens were boarded and Bandor had control of the battle cruisers of Pollux's military force, the Voltron team flew back to the castle-ship and the Princess opened a wormhole to her paladins' home planet.

Keith took Pidge, Hunk and Lance in the cloaked space pod down to the desert near Galaxy Garrison. It felt like going back to a past that someone else had lived. The building seemed so much smaller, much less advanced technologically speaking. They had left there knowing little of the world, much less the universe. So much had changed since then.

Each of them was dressed in uniform. Allura insisted they go as representatives of Altea, not as dropouts. None of them had argued, because all they had accomplished these last few years had been as subjects to the Princess. Whoever they encountered at the gate would show them the respect due them and allow them to pass unquestioned.

Once inside they were greeted by Commander Iverson, who was surprisingly cordial all things considered. He escorted them to an underground bunker that none of them even knew existed. When he opened the door a Galra transport ship was visible in an impressively sized hangar, surrounded by people in white jumpsuits. It looked like they were rebuilding it after taking it apart piece by piece.

"Katie! You made it!"

Pidge's head swiveled around trying to find the owner of the voice. The room was gigantic and buzzing with workers. Finally, Lance nudged her and pointed to a young man who looked very much like her but older. Even Keith was a bit misty-eyed watching the two run to each other. Pidge wasn't a hugger but Matt was obviously an exception. The Captain motioned to the others to stay put. There would be time for questions soon enough, but not now.

While they waited, Keith turned to Iverson. It was apparent the Commander knew they were coming, but how? Surely Matt was careful not to get caught trying to contact Pidge.

"Commander, thank you for giving us access to classified material. May I ask, were you aware that we would be visiting the Garrison?"

"Truth is we asked him to bring you here, but we needed to be sure the transmission couldn't be intercepted and risk bringing Galra troops as well."

"Well if anyone could figure it out, Katie could." Lance grinned as he looked over at her talking happily with Matt.

Keith chuckled and nodded his head in agreement. But back to the escape, how had Matt been able to get away from the most dangerous prison in the universe? Surely he'd had help, but the Blade had not been part of the rescue.

"Perhaps you should speak with the one who helped him get back to Earth. Through those doors to the left is a holding area. Kinda hate to do it but security protocol and all. Still, you're welcome to interrogate all you want, not that we've gotten a peep out've 'em."

Hunk and Lance stayed behind to wait for Pidge, while Keith entered the next room. It was more comfortable looking than a typical cell. It could almost be mistaken for a dorm room were it not for the glass partition between him and the prisoner. The subject stood revealing a tell-tale Galra marking; the image startled the young paladin.

"It's you, the Galra soldier I rescued from the weblum."

The inmate, whose face was still obscured by a hood and a mask, stopped dead still. Small hands reached up to disengage the mask, revealing a Galra with feminine features and Altean markings. Keith's hands moved unbidden to the glass, his eyes wide with realization.

"Mom?"

"Hello, my little one."


	9. Chapter 9

**The History**

"Allura, are you okay? You look tense." Romelle had a look of genuine concern, having watched her friend pace the dining hall frantically.

Of course she wasn't okay, how could she be? The man she loves just found his long-lost mother. Before he even contacted her on the ship to tell her she _knew_ something was going on, she felt the sudden change in his energy. It was like nothing she'd ever experienced with him and it scared her a bit. She hated herself for not going with him, for not being there for him.

The Garrison had his mother imprisoned on the base. The Princess knew they couldn't just leave her there but was a bit uneasy about having her in the castle as well. After all she had stolen the scaultrite from Keith at gunpoint, could she really be trusted? And how did she end up on Planet Doom in the first place?

"Romelle, we need to finish preparations for the arrival of the Commander and Keith's mother. We want to make a good impression if we're to form an alliance with Planet Earth."

Romelle nodded and smiled, moving about swiftly to make sure the room was perfect. She knew about diplomacy and all the trappings that went along with it. Even her father had used it in his attempts to bring other planets under the Galra Empire's control.

Coran radioed to let them know the ship carrying Keith, Commander Iverson, and the prisoner had just arrived. Pidge, Hunk and Lance were staying on base for a while to assist the scientists trying to reverse engineer Galra technology. That put her mind at ease, the fewer the voices at the table the better.

The dining hall was finally presentable. Allura was rushing to put a large floral arrangement on the table when her toe met the chair leg with a loud cracking noise.

"Oh quiznak!"

"Now is that any way for a proper Princess to speak?"

Allura instinctively slapped her hand over her mouth, straightening herself from the previously hunched position she'd taken due to the pain in her foot.

 _That voice. I know that voice._

She looked up at the woman who spoke those words. "Nanny?"

Unbelievable! The same kind eyes she remembered from her childhood were staring back at her. Her Nanny was the pilot of the Red Lion. She was Keith's mother. How was this even possible?

Coran entered the room and, upon seeing the Princess' current state realized what he'd long wondered was true.

"So, it really is you. I thought you were lost to us forever." He embraced the long-lost paladin, tears brimming in his eyes.

"Would someone care to explain what's going on here?" Keith looked even more agitated than he'd been when they spoke earlier.

Allura wondered how Coran had kept this information from her and demanded answers. Her advisor bowed his head and answered her questions in an uncharacteristically quiet manner. When the Princess was a young child her father, King Alfor, was the pilot of the Red Lion. When the war began, he stepped down and needed a replacement. Nanny, whom he trusted implicitly, had an aptitude for flying and trained to become the next Red Paladin. To protect his daughter, however, he demanded that no one tell her what became of her beloved caregiver.

Coran, being the ever-faithful servant, carried out the orders precisely. When news came that perhaps she was alive he'd been hesitant to speak up in case the stories were not true. He couldn't bear giving Allura or Keith any more false hope. So, he'd kept her identity hidden away, waiting for a day like today.

The Princess was having trouble processing all of this, and from the looks of it Keith was even more troubled.

"So, you were there for someone after all? I could've been so lucky."

The pain in his mother's eyes spoke for her. Allura moved to Keith's side and placed her arm around his shoulder, but he reflexively stepped away and excused himself from the room. She knew that this pain was deeper than abandonment. His mother had raised a child, just not him. Her heart broke for him, yet she feared this may push him away as well.

Still, there was business to attend to and running after her lover would not see it completed. So, exasperated with the situation, Allura took a deep breath and began discussions with Commander Iverson. He began to make it clear that giving up his alien abductee to the Alteans was going to come with a price. The Garrison was trying to replicate Galra technology but was having some trouble. His scientists needed certain technical specifications to get the ball rolling. In turn, once they had a sizable fleet with well-trained pilots, they would join the fight against Zarkon.

The Princess felt these were acceptable terms but wished she had her Captain to help deliberate the decision. Coran, however, seemed agreeable with the pact and suggested the sooner they move forward the better. Once all parties had signed and shaken on the treaty, Allura went to find Keith to ask him to return the Commander and retrieve the three remaining paladins. She found him in his room which was odd since he spent so little time there these days.

"Keith, are you okay? Have you been crying?" Her right hand reached to lift his chin upwards while the left brushed the hair from his face. He didn't have to answer her question, it was obvious he had.

"Allura, I'm sorry about earlier. It's just so much to take in all at once. Did you work things out with Iverson?"

Her nod affirmed this had happened, which in turn brought a slight change to his visage. He placed his hands on her hips and pulled her down into his lap, bringing his lips to meet hers. His kiss was more of an apology than anything else, not that she minded at all. It was nice knowing he didn't resent her for her past with his mother.

After a moment of holding her there he broke into a grin. "So, now I can find out just how rotten a child you were. This could be fun."

Allura stood curtly, harrumphing at his remark. She walked briskly towards the door and informed him that she would escort the Commander back to the Garrison and he could either sulk in his room or go talk to his mother.

Arriving at the base they were greeted by Lance and Hunk. Pidge followed shortly after, looking a bit dejected. Matt had decided to stay on Earth, partly to help build the ships and partly to be with their mother. The Green Paladin had hoped he'd join them but was happy that her mom would not be alone any more.

On the flight back she did tell the Princess about how the Galra prisoner had managed to escape and take Matt with her. Whispers of a Paladin of Voltron permeated the hallways and he managed to sneak a peek into the room where he was being held. The prisoner was not conscious and had medical devices connected to him. Druids were also in the room and flashes of purple energy emanated from the doorway.

In turn Allura told the team members how Keith's mother was also her former governess. Hunk's jaw dropped and Pidge blinked with surprise. Lance, of course, had something inappropriate to say about it and got the usual eye-roll reaction from the others.

They returned to the castle-ship to find Keith talking to his mother, presumably catching each other up on the last two decades of their lives. As much as she hated to interrupt their reunion, she knew that Shiro's rescue had to be planned as soon as possible.

Nanny told them how she originally had planned to rescue Shiro, knowing that he was part of the new Voltron crew. She let herself be captured to get inside the prison but found out once she was there that the human was in a deep coma. He was also being zapped by Haggar's witches constantly, which meant they were trying to get to him on another plane of existence where his mind was hidden away. This would have made it impossible for her to rescue him but she then met Matt and realized he, too, had ties to the Black Paladin and possibly to Voltron. Once they had commandeered the transport ship she knew that Earth was where they needed to go.

Nanny looked at Allura. "Your magic has awoken, you and I can open a portal to release Shiro's mind. But someone is going to have to go in and find him there to get him to wake up."

The Princess looked to her lover. She knew it would have to be him.

Lance, Hunk and Pidge all waited in their lions for the wormhole jump. The Olkari were sending a battle cruiser and Bandor was to meet them there in his ship. Slav had configured a human teleportation device as an emergency escape route, but could not guarantee a 100% chance of survival should they need to use it. In this reality, that is.

Once everyone was in position they prepared to open the portal. Romelle agreed to observe should any of them need help. No one knew what Keith might encounter and Allura was concerned he could get trapped in there as well.

She gave him a quick kiss, which did not go unnoticed.

"So, my son and my Princess?"

The couple giggled then smiled sheepishly at her, blushing slightly at the unintended reveal.

"Ah, well, Nanny…"

"You can tell me all about it later my dear, for now let's save your friend."


	10. Chapter 10

**The Exorcism**

Keith thought he knew what to expect. Shiro had told him about meeting Zarkon on the astral plane, one existing solely in his mind. There'd been nothing but the two of them and the Black Lion. So why was Keith seeing his shack in the desert?

Opening the door with his left hand, right on his weapon, he expected either an ambush or a body. Anything but silence would have been welcome but silence was all he got.

It was not unlike the Blade trial, only his father wasn't here. The light filtering into the room was more of a violet hue, similar to the quintessence he'd seen in the Galra space hub. It offered no warmth, instead causing him to shiver despite no sense of feeling cold. In fact, his whole body began to feel wrong, as if he had merely swapped bodies with someone else.

Someone who had claws. Dear god, what was wrong with his hands? They were splotchy, like a burn. Like…

 _A mirror, where's a mirror?_

Shit. Whatever magic it was made him look completely Galran. Ears, eyes, markings. Was this permanent? Is this only happening in his mind?

 _Can Allura see me like this?_

He'd been there all of two minutes and he was already failing the mission.

 _She will reject me if I look like this._

The paladins would be waiting for him.

 _You must find Shiro. Fast._

He needed to focus, to redirect himself.

 _Why did my mind bring me here of all places?_

The board. All the clues he'd found to find the Blue Lion were on the board. Maybe something there could help him. What was he looking for anyway? He squinted as he stared at the charts and maps posted there. It was like trying to read in a dream, nothing was clear. What led him to find Shiro the first time around?

The caves. He closed his eyes and let his mind wander to the caves where the lion carvings were found. They told a story, he just had to remember it. There were drawings of lions and of warriors inside a circle. Figures outside the ring, arms held high in jubilation. Not unlike a stadium.

 _The Champion._

The walls of the shack melted away like a sandcastle falling to high tide. Before him now was an arena, and from the roars of the crowd inside it was certain that was where he should go.

The walls inside were like a maze, and no matter how many stairs he ran up or how many doors he pushed through it was always for naught. Roman gladiator matches always piqued his curiosity as a child; right now, he was thankful for the hours spent reading about their history.

He needed to go down. The Colosseum of Rome had a hypogeum beneath the structure that housed the fighters. Chances are the design was, quite literally, universal.

Chasing down the steps Keith found himself in a poorly lit tunnel that seemed to stretch for eternity. Once again, he paused to focus, closing his eyes in an attempt to bend this virtual reality world to his will.

 _Think about Shiro. Focus on your mentor. Your brother._

"Keith? What the hell are you doing here?"

Shiro's voice snapped him back to reality. Suddenly he could see a line of cages. Inside one he could see a shadow moving slowly, slouched like an animal too long in captivity. Keith ran towards the figure and was met with the familiar face of his good friend.

"Thank goodness, I thought I'd never find you!"

He quickly snapped the lock on the door with his blade and swung the gate open. The rusty, creaking sound it made caused him to shudder once again. Had Shiro been in here the whole time? And who was holding him?

"Get out of here before they come back. They'll kill you if they find you."

"Who will? There's no one else here."

"Haggar's witches. They've been keeping me here."

Something didn't add up. Weren't the druids trying to wake him up, to get him to talk? Why would they hold him there unless…?

Keith followed Shiro's gaze to a raised platform behind him. Another shadow, this one lying still. Cautiously he stepped towards the pedestal, not knowing if this was yet another mind trick set for him. There was precious little light in the room but the size and shape were unmistakable. Zarkon.

"What the hell is he doing here?"

"I have to fight him. Once he comes back I must fight him and I must win. The fate of the universe depends on it!"

Shiro's voice was steady but his eyes betrayed his emotions. He was afraid. This was a man who had fought giant beasts and won, who had lead his team to victory many times. The younger paladin knew he needed to get his former leader out of there.

"We need to go. Leave him here, he's not your problem."

"If I fight him and win then the war is over. You can all go home. I have to do this." Damn, why did Shiro always need to be so, so…selfless? "If you hurry you can get the castle and the lions away before he awakens. I'll hold him so you can escape."

Keith felt like he'd been slammed hard in the chest. Shiro had no idea how long he'd been here. The idea that time had no meaning, that seconds could be days, days could be years, defied all logic. Most would have gone mad by now, how was Shiro able to hold on for so long?

Not knowing what else to do, Keith moved swiftly towards Zarkon's body, his blade searching for an opening. As he raised his arm he heard another voice, one he recognized but not coming from where it should have.

"What do you think you're doing?"The deep bass of that voice was certainly the Emperor's, but his lips were not moving. "If you kill me your friend is lost forever."

Reluctantly, Keith turned towards Shiro, whose eyes now glowed yellow. His face contorted into a snarl as he swung his fists violently. Although the younger paladin could elude the punches he had no room to maneuver effectively. Not wanting to hurt his friend he decided to talk his way out.

"Why would killing you hurt Shiro?"

"Because I am in his head. If you kill me now I will have nowhere else to go. Do you think your friend will last long with me controlling him?"

Shiro's eyes suddenly reverted to their normal state. The look he gave meant he was aware that he'd been possessed. "Keith, he's right. Leave and let me deal with him. The team doesn't need me, you'll be better off like this."

"Like hell we will! The team is nothing without you and I _will_ bring you back!"

"I can't get him out of my head. The druids have been trying to help him control me, they wanted to send me back to steal the Black Lion. I was going to be forced to turn on you all. That cannot happen!"

"We'll figure this out. I'm not leaving you behind."

Just then a light appeared in the corner of his eye. Fearing a druid had appeared he crouched behind the slab where Zarkon's body lay. His heart settled a bit when he heard the voice of a friend.

"Keith, where are you? The team is in position and are waiting for you to wake Shiro." It was Princess Romelle; she must have been sent by Allura.

Standing to let her know where he was, he shook when he saw her face. She knew who Zarkon was and obviously feared him. Her gaze was fixed on his body so she didn't notice Shiro approach her from the other side.

"Who are you? Why are you here?" His voice was low but even.

"I-I'm Princess Romelle of Pollux. The Voltron team rescued me from the Galra. They sent me to find you because Keith had been gone so long."

Once again Shiro's eyes flared yellow. Zarkon had regained control. "Oh, I know who you are. I wanted to put you in my harem but Lotor got to you first. It won't happen next time, you have my word. Pretty girl like you."

Romelle stepped backwards in terror, tripping on the uneven stone and falling hard on the floor. Her arm reflexively raised up to shield her face. This had been her life on Pollux, it seemed.

Keith had to end this now. He didn't want to lose his friend and he certainly didn't want Romelle to fear Shiro if they did make it out. Swiftly he plunged his blade into the body before him, making sure to find a spot that wasn't immediately fatal but could do the job with time.

Shiro-as-Zarkon howled in pain. The Captain knew he'd guessed correctly.

"So, if I understand, once your body dies you have to stay in Shiro's. Right? Well, I guess in ten-thousand years you can get him to the same level of power you have now. Assuming you can extend a human life that long. Is that what you want? To share a weaker body with a stronger mind?"

Another cut, to drive the point home.

"Shiro, I know you're in there. _**Force him out**_!"

Once again, the yellow eyes returned to grey. Shiro looked to Romelle; he'd seen Zarkon's thoughts and knew he needed to protect her. He reached for her hand to help her stand. She motioned for Keith to join them and each of them took an arm. A warm pink glow surrounded them as their energy passed to Shiro's body. Their Altean magic would help Shiro exorcise his demon.

A burst of black energy emerged from Shiro and struck the listless form of the Emperor. He seized violently with his reanimation, his eyes piercing the darkness. Suddenly, he was gone. Shiro began to fade as well.

"The team is waiting for you. They'll get you home."

"Thank you for not giving up on me."

"You're the best person I know. I could never."

With that Shiro smiled, then was gone.

Taking that as a sign it was time to leave, Keith turned to see if Romelle had left already. She was waiting, presumably for him, to return.

"Thank you for coming. You saved us both."

"I was happy to help. Shiro seems like a good man."

"He is. I'll introduce you two when we get back."

Romelle smiled while a slight blush graced her cheeks.

"By the way, Romelle, did you notice anything…different…about me before you left?"

She looked at him quizzically.

"No, you looked just like you do now."

He hadn't even noticed. No more claws, no more purple skin. He was himself again. A smile crept across his face.

"Good, let's go home. Allura must be worried."


	11. Chapter 11

**The Aliens**

Allura slumped on the couch, exhausted from keeping the portal open for so long. She had been laying on Keith's lap while he stroked her hair until the rest of the Voltron Force entered the room. The team had successfully found Shiro and teleported him to the ship. Due to the Galra's ruse they'd encountered little trouble getting him out.

Someone was not going to be happy when they realized that Zarkon wasn't still manipulating him.

Coran and Romelle were taking care of Shiro, putting him in one of the pods to heal him physically. Allura knew this was going to be difficult for him to work through mentally, though, and she was happy to have the Princess of Pollux there to help him recover.

While they were relaxing, the paladins started to ask questions of Nanny. Each of them peppered her with inquiries about the Blue Lion and how she came to be on Earth herself. And, of course, Lance was itching to get some dirt on his commander.

Allura watched Keith lean forward, elbows on knees, eyebrow raised curiously. She knew that this was all he ever wanted to know and she prayed that the answers wouldn't hurt him.

"Well," Nanny spoke with consideration, "I suppose I should start at the beginning."

She wove a tale of five Paladins of Voltron, one being Zarkon and her being another. When King Alfor decided to send the lions away he also sent guards to watch the cryopods and protect them from the enemy.

The Yellow Paladin ended up on the planet where the lion was found but encountered trouble and was unable to stay. Yellow was left unprotected but luckily undetected as well.

The red lion of course ended up on Pollux with Nanny. Her guards watched her as instructed and then passed on the tradition for centuries. Eventually, security for the lion ended once the Galra took over the planet and enslaved the people. Later miners accidentally stumbled upon Red and found her in the cryopod; that was when Nanny was taken prisoner.

What she didn't know when the lions were sent away was that the pilots of the blue and green lions were in love. They were torn over the idea of being apart and went against Alfor's orders. Green was stowed away on its designated planet but the Olkari paladin left with her Altean partner to go to Earth.

"Green and Blue, huh?" Lance winked as he nudged Pidge, who rolled her eyes but had a tinge of blush on her cheeks. "Katie, would you run away to Earth with me?"

Allura smiled at his playfulness. He'd been calling her Katie ever since he met her brother, who had insisted on calling her by her real name. She'd always complain about it, but sounded less annoyed each time she did.

"So, what happened to those paladins?" Hunk was even more curious after Lance's teasing comment.

Nanny chuckled and continued her story. Granted all she had to share was what she'd found in their digital diaries that were stowed away in the cave. Still, it painted a pretty complete picture.

"So, ten-thousand years ago, human civilization was just getting started. Imagine what kind of reaction two space explorers would have gotten landing a giant mechanical beast in the middle of all of that."

Pidge's eyes lit up. She knew that cats were worshipped in ancient Egypt.

"I knew it! The Sphinx was based on Blue!"

A nod and a grin confirmed her suspicions and she sat back with a satisfied smile. "But they changed the head so as not to advertise their location, right?"

"Very astute of you to catch that. The paladins decided to help the fledgling civilization instead of being sat on a shelf waiting to be revived. Their naturally long lifespans meant there was a good chance they'd outlive the war anyway. So, they started a family that eventually integrated into human society. Still they moved around a bit to prevent being an easy target. That's how they ended up with descendants in North America."

"I knew you were part Olkari, Pidge. You have a real green thumb"

"Wonder what smart-mouthed alien race you're related to, Hunk."

"Wait a minute" interrupted Lance "does that mean I'm possibly Altean? Do I have magic?"

"I don't know, can you make yourself disappear?" Keith shot Lance a serious look before cracking a smile. Lance responded with a pillow to Keith's head.

The Princess reveled in her team's comradery. They'd been through so much together and had thus grown closer. Still, she wanted to get past all of this to the important part.

"Nanny, tell us how you met Keith's father."

The team fell silent again and all eyes turned to the Black Paladin. His jaw tightened a bit but he held his gaze on his mother.

The governess' face softened with the memories of a better time in her life, when for a short while she wasn't on the run.

After being rescued from the Galra she'd made her way to Earth in a stolen jump ship to find the Blue Paladin. It took quite some time to narrow down the general location of the lion. She finally recruited an ex-military man who was trained in deciphering intelligence gathered from other nations. His skills were impressive and he quickly helped her find the caves where the lion had been hidden.

Sadly, she did not find the paladins, only the stories they'd left behind. Blue also would not respond to her so she decided to remain on the planet to protect it until Voltron was called back to the Castle of Lions. The man she'd hired to help in the search let her stay in his home. After some time they fell in love and eventually she gave birth to a baby boy.

Instinctively, Allura's hand found her lover's clenched fist. She ran her palm over his tight knuckles until they gave way, allowing her to lace her fingers with his. His grip was tight but his thumb swept the back of her hand in silent gratitude.

"So why did you leave us?" Keith's eyes were starting to look puffy from the threat of tears.

"Zarkon had Red, I feared it was only a matter of time before he found me again. I couldn't risk bringing his army to my precious son."

Allura watched as Keith leapt from his seat and threw his arms around his long absent mother. As the two of them wept the remaining paladins slipped out of the room. The Princess started to follow but was stopped by a hand grasping her wrist.

Looking back over her shoulder she saw Nanny's eyes meet hers. There was a sadness to them, an unspoken request. Allura nodded and stayed in the room, waiting for the moment between mother and son to pass.

Several minutes later Keith finally spoke, his voice shaking with sobs. "Please, don't leave me again. After Dad left I was alone for so long. I can't…"

The look on Nanny's face told Allura that she hadn't planned to stay, at least not permanently. Once again, the Princess took his hand to remind him that he was no longer alone. He had her, he needed to know that.

"Let's go get you something to eat, love. You must be hungry and it's getting late."

He nodded and turned to leave, his face raw from crying.

"Allura, may I speak with you alone for a moment?"

"Yes, Nanny. Keith, I'll be there in a minute."

Once the door had closed behind him she turned to her former caregiver. She was hoping the conversation wouldn't end with Nanny leaving again.

"Do you love him?"

"Keith? Of course, I do. He's an amazing man."

"As a princess, you know you'll be expected to marry someone of royal lineage. I don't want to see his heart be broken. He's had more than his fair share and it wouldn't be right."

"I have no planet, no people. I am a princess in title only. And he is the only man I wish to marry."

"I'm glad to hear that. Now, go be with him. I can see how much he needs you."

Allura hugged Nanny tightly before excusing herself from the room. She knew it was true that Coran wanted her to marry someone of status, and before it came to that she had some decisions to make.

Keith was waiting for her in the kitchen, his back to the doorway. She stood in the entry for a moment to appreciate the view. He may have come from humble beginnings but he carried himself in a manner that belied his upbringing. She would be proud to stand at his side, to call him her prince. The challenge now was to convince Coran to approve of such a union.

"I didn't come back with a tail, did I?" Keith spoke without turning around.

"Sorry, what?"

"You've been standing there for a while, just thought something was bothering you."

"No, just thinking."

"About what?"

She walked up behind him and wrapped her arms around his chest, pulling him in a tight embrace while gently kissing the back of his neck.

"About how nice this is. The team is back together, and you're back with me."

Keith reached back to pull her head to his shoulder, turning to kiss her cheek. "It's really starting to feel like home, isn't it?"

Her arms squeezed him even tighter. "Yes, my love, it is."


	12. Chapter 12

**The Arrangement**

 _Relax Keith. Breathe. It may not be what it seems._

Thank goodness no one else was on the training deck. He never felt this winded, even after an hour of high-level training. But then again, he never felt as threatened by the sparring bot as he did by this.

It really was an accident that he'd even heard part of the conversation in the first place. If it weren't for the words piercing his skull he may have just walked past the partially open door without listening at all.

" _Princess, you must consider this. It's for the future of the Altean people. They need a leader and a royal marriage will provide that."_

To hell with that. Coran had entertained their relationship although Keith knew he didn't fully support them. Hearing him say those words only confirmed it.

Maybe he should have stayed to hear her response but he didn't feel that would have been fair. She would tell him if there was anything to be concerned about. He loved that about her, she was always honest with him. There was nothing to do now but wait.

"Hey Keith, I didn't know you were using the deck. You mind if I hang out until you're done?"

He'd been so lost in thought he hadn't even noticed Shiro. His friend was still looking ragged from his time on Doom and had lost a lot of muscle mass. Granted Keith wasn't about to offer to spar with the still larger man for fear of getting his ass handed to him.

"It's all yours, I was just leaving."

Shiro gave him that look. It was a look Keith knew all too well. He wasn't getting out of this easy.

"I'm guessing this has to do with Allura, right?"

"Is it that obvious?"

"It's a new look for you. I know a lot has happened while I was gone, so catch me up. You can trust that whatever you say stays with me."

"Not even Romelle can know, got it?"

Shiro had a horrible poker face. His faux expression of confusion made Keith chuckle. She'd been an ever-present fixture at Shiro's side since he returned. They had grown close not only because of their experiences but also because they had similar desires.

The former Black Paladin had decided not to return to the team as a pilot in order to treat his PTSD. He owed himself that and the team supported his decision. However, he wanted to support them however he could, just as Romelle had. Keith had offered him an advisory position which he took gratefully.

Now the advice needed had nothing to do with fighting. Hopefully.

After listening intently to Keith's quandary, he leaned back against the wall and stroked his chin thoughtfully.

"So, what do you think you should do?"

"I was going to wait to see if she said something to me first. I'll pretend I didn't hear anything."

"Keith, you're the worst liar I've ever met. If you do that she'll know in half a tick that you aren't being honest. Tell her what you heard. Clear the air. The longer you wait the more worked up you'll get."

If he were a betting man he'd have put all his chips on Shiro giving him that exact response. Unfortunately, he was hoping to be wrong this time. Confrontation never came easy when it was people he cared about.

"Thanks, I'll do that. And I'm serious, no pillow talk with Romelle."

Shiro almost never blushed, so Keith felt like he had gotten a bit of revenge by making him do it. Nonetheless he was genuinely happy for his friend.

Finding Allura took less time than he'd hoped if he was being honest. The look on her face told him that he'd probably not like what she was going to say.

"Keith, we need to talk."

"I know. Listen, I accidentally overheard part of your conversation with Coran and…"

"Oh. Well, so you know what my response was."

"Not really. I didn't want to pry."

Her eyes were fixed on his in a way that made him believe the rest of his life would be trying to find pieces of his heart scattered in the stars. He wanted to will her not to speak.

So, he kissed her. If her words were going to wound him then he'd parry the blow. She lingered on his lips a moment before pulling away to answer.

"I agreed only to speak with them. I owe them that at least."

It wasn't the answer he wanted but it was better than he expected.

The following week they arrived at the planet of Altean refugees. Keith cursed his mother for telling Coran about them, although he knew she did it for the right reasons.

This planet had the largest number of survivors by far. They had no established government like Pollux, however, and relied on a clan system with elders making most of the decisions. The leader of the largest had offered his son as a husband for Allura. His intention was to bring all the tribes together under one banner. A gathering was planned to discuss the possible union.

The Paladins of Voltron were decked out in their finest uniforms for the banquet. Allura and Romelle were dressed as was befitting women of royalty, although Keith would have preferred his Princess had worn a less _attractive_ gown. Not that she didn't look amazing in everything, even his old t-shirt.

 _Now is not the time for this. Don't get distracted._

The team was making their way down to the elevator pod when he couldn't take it anymore. Grabbing Allura by the hand he stole into a nearby alcove. For a moment, they stood simply staring mournfully at each other, the stillness finally broken by Keith's lips lightly touching hers. He broke the kiss quickly, afraid that any more might tempt him to steal her away for good.

"Princess, I know you're doing this for your people. Just know that whatever you decide to do I'll always be here for you. Voltron is still my mission and my duty is to protect you. I will always be your paladin."

Allura didn't have an answer. She didn't need one. After all this time, he'd learned to read her eyes and he knew this was torture for her.

Before he stepped away he knelt before his Princess, bowing his head. He pulled her hand to his lips, a sign of his devotion to her. Then he stood and led her back into the hallway, towards her future and the future of the kingdom of Altea.

Coran landed the castle in a spot away from the village where they were met by a large ensemble of tribal elders and their guards. Most of them were elders but one man, possibly in his 20's, stepped forward when Allura exited the pod.

Keith surmised this was the potential future Altean prince. The man was tall, lean build, and wore a cloak of fine cloth. He was muscular but looked like he'd never stepped foot into battle.

The man stopped in front of the Princess, bowing slightly and reaching for her hand.

The hand Keith had just kissed moments before.

Luckily Hunk noticed Keith's expression and put a hand on his shoulder, offering a nod of understanding. It didn't make the anger dissipate though it did remind him to present a calm demeanor for Allura's sake.

Once the gala was in full swing the space explorers started to mingle with the locals. Hunk was checking out the food selection with Shay, while Lance and Pidge were looking cozy near a fireplace. Shiro and Romelle were acting as ambassadors, speaking with everyone of importance.

Nanny stepped away from Coran, whom she had just introduced to a handsome gentleman from a local township. She apparently enjoyed playing matchmaker, Keith thought.

As she approached he wondered if she was going to tell him this was the right thing to do. She'd worked in the castle and had known King Alfor for some time. Surely this made sense to her.

"Keith, you love her. She loves you. Are you really going to stand there and watch that slip away?"

She met his shocked features with a sweet smile.

"I've been watching that young man. He has barely spoken two words to her. Don't you find it odd?"

Now that she mentioned it he had been spending most of the evening talking to another young woman at the table. Keith had assumed she was his sister, but looking closer maybe his mother was on to something.

Just then the suitor excused himself from the table, the young woman following shortly after. Instincts kicking in, Keith followed them out of the room. He saw the young woman duck into a room further down the hallway, closing the door behind her.

Stepping back into the banquet room Keith walked over to where Pidge was sitting.

"Any chance you would let me borrow Rover?"

"Um, sure? Things seem secure here. What's going on?"

"Not really sure yet, but somethings bothering me so I want to check it out."

Pidge and Lance exchanged glances that indicated they knew what was bothering him. They just didn't know the whole story. Granted at this point neither did he.

He slipped back down the hallway to where the woman had disappeared. He could hear voices on the other side of the large wooden door, but they were too low to understand.

"Okay Rover, record mode on. Stay high and out of sight."

With that he slowly cracked open the door to let the security bot into the room. Since he didn't have his flight suit on he couldn't watch the feed so he left it slightly ajar. The sounds were familiar, and not exactly becoming a man who is supposed to be marrying someone else. After a few minutes the heavy panting stopped and the woman spoke.

"I don't care what your father wants. You can't marry her!"

"Hush, it's only temporary. After the wedding, Prince Lotor is going to kidnap her. He's promised to let me stay on as the King of New Altea if I give her to him. It's not like I want to marry her anyway and once she's gone we can rule together."

"He'll kill her!"

"No, he wants to marry her himself. If he gets that he'll be happy and he'll leave us alone. She'll be better for us with him than here drawing unwanted attention to our people."

 _That son of a bitch._

Just as Keith turned to move back down the hall he felt a shove and went tumbling into the room.

He looked up at the horrified faces of the couple who was plotting against his beloved. Nearby was a sentry who had managed to sneak up on him.

"I caught this man eavesdropping just outside. What do you want me to do with him?"

The man stepped toward Keith, squatting down to look him in the eye.

"This is the man who has the heart of the Princess. Lotor told me to watch out for him. Good thing dead men can't talk."

 _Allura, get out! Run!_

The guard drew his sword but his hand was stayed by the other man.

"Not now, take him to the basement. Prince Lotor likely has a bounty for him. I'll find you down there after the banquet. In the meantime, tell the Princess that her Captain excused himself to go back to the castle."

The next thing Keith felt was the hilt of the sword to his head, then everything went black.


	13. Chapter 13

**The Treaty**

The Princess was shocked out of her stupor. The hum of voices had lulled her into a daydream where Keith had come to whisk her away from all of this. His voice was so clear, much more vibrant than the typical musings her brain could conjure. He was telling her to run, not with him but… away from him?

Suddenly she felt a strong hand on her shoulder. It was too much to hope it belonged to her lover. No, it was rougher, more forceful than his touch. She looked up to meet the cold gaze of her Altean suitor. His face caused her to shudder involuntarily.

Something about him disgusted her. Maybe even frightened her a bit.

"Princess Allura, we should make an announcement soon. Are you ready to address the people?"

Her eyes darted around the room. Keith was nowhere to be seen. She looked to the corner where the team was huddled, backs to her, talking about something intently. If he were in the room he'd certainly have been in the middle of that. Nanny was with Coran but they were both too distracted for her to get their attention.

A young soldier approached the table, speaking briefly to the elder seated nearby then turning his attention to her.

"Your Highness, I have been asked to relay a message from the Captain of the Voltron Force. He has excused himself to return to your ship and has asked the forgiveness of the elders for his absence."

Allura attempted to show no emotion in response. She thanked the man then turned to her host.

"I'm ready to speak now."

As she rose there was a loud knocking on wood that would silence the crowd. Everyone turned to face her, anxious to know if she'd accepted the offer of marriage. Well, almost everyone. The groom-to-be was looking away, as were her paladins. Suddenly she felt alone in a packed room.

"First, I would like to extend my deepest gratitude to our host and his family. You have been incredibly hospitable to us and have made us feel most welcome. Second, I would like to thank the townspeople for inviting us to help the planet grow stronger. We look forward to working to achieve your goal of one New Altea, under the flag of our home planet."

Everyone stood to applaud the idea of a unified planet.

Except the paladins. They were now facing her and had looks of what might be…apprehension? Maybe they thought they were going to have to make their homes here? Or that she might replace them as her pilots?

She took a deep breath before continuing. This was not going to end well.

"Your elders have turned to me for guidance, and have requested that I become ruler to New Altea. As a condition of our treaty I have been offered one of your noblemen as a husband. Unfortunately, I must respectfully decline."

For the first time the man who would be the Princess' betrothed looked directly at her. His face contorted into a look of relief and then contempt. Gasps filled the room followed by hushed whispers.

Before she could continue a breathless Lance came running up to her.

"Allura, I'm sorry to interrupt but we have a situation. Keith is missing."

"He went back to the castle, didn't he?"

Lance shook his head in a way she knew he was dead serious.

"He took off with Rover to investigate something and never came back. Pidge is tracking them now."

At this point the elder stood and demanded answers. He did not care to be humiliated in front of his village.

"Sir, I promise you if he is missing something has happened to him. Please, help us find him." Allura could only hope he would agree.

"Fine. Gather the guards to assist in the search. Paladins, please take the lead."

Allura slumped back down in her chair before noticing how much paler the young man sitting beside her looked. Even her speech hadn't done that. She was going to have to keep a close eye on him.

It took a very short time before Keith was returned to the party. Allura raced to his side as soon as she saw he was walking somewhat shakily, leaning on Hunk for support. She quickly looked him over for injuries. He had a bruise near his temple and was rubbing his wrists. So, he hadn't left of his own accord after all.

She looked first to the jilted groom, then to the guard who'd lied to her. Both men were sweating profusely and looked ready to run.

Allura had seen enough. "Guards, detain these men!"

"Princess, what is going on here?" demanded the older host.

"I'm not sure yet, but we're going to find out."

After hearing the story from Keith of the plot against the Princess, Pidge pulled up the security footage from Rover and showed it to the clan leaders. They all apologized profusely for the treachery. The elder whose son was the treasonous mastermind begged mercy for his child.

"Good sir, my castle is not an appropriate place to hold him, he may stay here under your guard. You may choose to punish him as you see fit."

The elders huddled to discuss their next move, then approached Allura.

"We have other fine young nobles for you to wed, you may have your pick of any you choose. Just please don't leave us at the mercy of the Galra!"

Allura smiled graciously.

"I have no intention of abandoning my people. However, any treaty we may enact will be designed to be beneficial for everyone, including me and the man I will one day wed. A marriage to me will not be required of any of your families. You have my promise of protection from the Alliance. It is my desire to see my people prosper once again."

With those words a cheer erupted that shook the walls. The clan leaders nodded agreement and bowed respectfully before their new guardian.

After the room had once again calmed and the crowd dispersed, Allura took Keith aside to once again check to see that he was okay. She hadn't seen much more than a smile from him during her speech and worried he was still cross with her.

"I am so sorry this happened to you. When you left, I thought it was because you were angry with me. It makes more sense that you were protecting me. You always have, and you kept your promise to continue."

Keith once again took her hand and placed his lips gently against her fingers. This time his gaze never wavered and she knew exactly what message he was trying to convey. Sadly, it would have to wait, they had a treaty to hammer out.

The treaty took a few hours to complete and it was very late by the time they all sat down to sign it. Coran had joined them to offer his expertise as the King's former advisor.

Allura knew that Lotor would be enraged on learning that his plot had fallen through so, for now, they would let him believe that a wedding was going to take place in six months. This would allow time to prepare for a possible attack by Zarkon's forces. Princess Romelle would oversee the process of bringing all the tribes to a central region for protection. Prince Bandor would send troops and ships, and the Olkari would help build defense systems and underground bunkers.

In return New Altea would welcome refugees from planet Pollux. This would help bolster the population and allow them to thrive.

The elders had happily agreed to the terms. Each of them once again thanked the Princess and her team for giving them another chance. After they left the banquet hall to return to the ship, Allura noticed that Coran was trailing farther behind the rest of the group.

She slowed her pace, allowing him to catch up to her. He had not been aware of what her plan had been regarding the marriage. If she was being honest it may not have been entirely a plan since she originally intended to give the arrangement some consideration. But her heart had told her she would regret giving Keith up.

"Coran, I hope you're not upset with me."

He looked up at her with apologetic eyes.

"No Princess. If anything, you should be angry with me. I was trying to do the right thing, but leaving your feelings out of the equation was unfair. You are a strong leader and I am so proud of you. Part of me feared that Keith would pull you away from your duties, but in all honestly you have taken them more seriously. You two are a perfect balance. Does he make you happy?"

"More than anything, Coran."

"Then if you love him and want to marry him, I will give my permission."

Allura's head snapped to look at him, only to see a mischievous grin creep up under his oversized moustache.

"Oh, you will, will you? Then I suppose that handsome gentleman you were chatting with might need to gain my approval before becoming a regular visitor to the castle."

Coran almost tripped over his own feet, stammering for a response.

"O-of course! I wouldn't invite him if you didn't approve first."

Allura almost doubled over with laughter. Even in the dark she could see his red face clashed with his orange hair.

"You know, Coran, we'll be here for a few days. How about I give you a two day leave of absence, starting now?"

Coran bowed to the Princess to thank her, then turned and started to quickly make his way back to the village.

"What was that all about?"

Allura started, not realizing Keith had backtracked to check on them.

"Oh, you know. Young love."

"Do I now?"

"You'd better."

Keith answered by wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her to him. She responded with her lips smashing into his, the kiss almost violent in its intensity. They didn't separate until their bodies insisted on air.

"Promise me you won't entertain any more marriage proposals, okay Allura?"

"Not even one from a handsome Captain?"

"Not even-oh. Yeah, okay you can entertain _one._ Specifically, from a certain Black Paladin."

"So Shiro?"

Allura had to bite her lip to keep from laughing. Teasing Keith was always so easy, and usually it ended favorably for them both.

"Current Black Paladin, who happens to know your favorite moves and is happy to provide them on a nightly basis, if you so wish."

"Soooo, not Shiro then?"

The expression on Keith's face meant she was going to pay for this. And she was very much looking forward to it.


	14. Chapter 14

**The Substitute**

"…and I'll form the head."

"Yeah, I'm a leg now, I get it."

"Sorry Shiro, it started as a joke and now it's habit."

They'd have gotten a good laugh out of the conversation if it weren't for the angry robeast that had just caught up with them.

Keith knew this wasn't an ideal situation, but with Hunk and Coran away from the castle there was little choice. They'd hoped to avoid drawing unwanted attention to the Balmera and had decided to send the two men to collect crystals in jump-ships instead of landing the castle.

So now Shiro was piloting yellow lion. Keith had tried to give him Black but he'd refused, which had led to a rather awkward conversation with another paladin.

"I can fly Yellow. Once you're Black's pilot they'll all let you fly them."

"Blue would never let you fly her."

"Flew her last week."

"What?! Why didn't you ask first? You know how picky she is!"

"Relax, Lance. It's not like I was stepping out with your _other_ girl or anything. Plus, she really seemed to enjoy the change of scenery."

Keith had a tough time keeping a straight face, while Pidge was doubled over and gasping for air. Lance went to argue but decided he was in deep enough, so he let out a resigned sigh and sulked all the way to Blue's hangar.

At that time Shiro decided on a change of scenery as well. He'd never tried to fly any of the other lions and figured the challenge would be fun.

So now here they were, in their mismatched lions. The robeast was small but fast. It took them a while to land a hit with Lance's gun, but it was enough to stun the creature so they could finish it off with the Blazing Sword.

Once they finished clearing out the remaining ships and returned to the castle, the paladins excitedly ran to Shiro with hugs and high-fives. It had been ages since he'd fought with them but he was just as sharp as ever. Still, he seemed reticent to join in their jubilation.

When they'd left New Altea, Keith felt guilty about leaving Romelle behind. He knew it would be tough for Shiro to be away from her for so long and he was incredibly grateful his friend had agreed to stay on the ship. Shiro's mood always seemed lighter when she was around, and Keith hoped that her return would help coax him back out of his shell.

The call from Galaxy Garrison put a damper on those hopes.

The team was contacted by Garrison headquarters regarding the new ships they'd been constructing. With the data they'd gotten from Slav and Coran they were able to integrate Altean technology into the systems, but what they didn't have was experienced pilots. So, they proposed a trade. Matt would join the team as Pidge's assistant as well as to train as a backup pilot, while Shiro stayed at the Garrison as a test pilot and instructor.

After discussing the offer with Shiro and Allura, it was agreed to go ahead with the plan. They all felt that training additional paladins for the team was essential, and Shiro was the best person to pick possible candidates. They would also add a team of technicians and security officers, so the castle was going to start to feel more crowded than usual.

For his part, however, Keith couldn't help but worry how the changes might affect the team. Originally there were just seven of them, and they'd grown together through the many challenges they'd faced. All he could do was hope that they could remain a cohesive unit.

The next day Hunk and Coran returned to the ship with Shay and the crystals. Hunk had promised to show her his home planet and so she would be staying in the castle for a while. She of course was always welcome, as she'd once helped shore up the Yellow Paladin's resolve to keep fighting Zarkon's empire.

First stop was going to be New Altea. They would stay there for several days to check on the status of the relocation efforts and help install the crystals for the defense and life support systems.

Keith had already promised Shiro some time off to spend with Romelle. He owed them that much. Otherwise the team was going to be very, very busy.

Looking from the castle windows over the planet's landscape, he couldn't help but be impressed with the progress they were making. The extra hands were certainly speeding things along. Much was left to be done, however, and he wondered if it would be done before the six months was up.

"You're worried about them, aren't you?" Somehow, despite being apart for so long, his mother always knew what he was thinking.

"I hate that Voltron can't be everywhere at once. Here, Earth, all the other planets in the universe. There's so much at stake."

She chuckled, shaking her head. "You sound like your father, always trying to save everyone at the same time."

"I suppose. Don't really remember him that well."

"He loved you, just like I did. Like I do now."

His head bowed in thought, knowing where the conversation was leading.

"You want to stay, don't you?" He turned to look at her, hoping he was wrong.

"Just for now. Romelle could use the help, and I'm not of much use to you on the ship."

"Of course you are! Why would you think you aren't?"

"You're looking for backup pilots for the lions, and you never even considered me, did you?"

If he were being honest he'd admit he hadn't thought of it. Since she'd joined the team he only concerned himself with thinking of her as his mother, as Allura's governess. She had been the pilot of Red long before him, yet he'd brushed that information aside.

"Would you like to do that? Would you want to fly again?"

"Only if you, and the other paladins, would like me to. I miss it, being part of Voltron."

"Then I'll discuss it with the team tomorrow. Just no making plans until then, okay?"

"If Lance needs incentive, just let him know that I was a much better pilot than you."

"As if."

She laughed as she turned to make her way to the control room. He watched after her curiously, wondering if she was indeed that great a pilot. Hopefully he wouldn't regret putting her back in the cockpit.

The week went by in a blur. Everyone had a job to do and they all pushed themselves to finish on time. Bandor was scheduled to arrive later in the day with the remaining refugees from Pollux, so all the housing needed to be as livable as possible.

Tomorrow night the villagers were holding a celebration to welcome the new citizens as well as thank the Voltron force for all their help.

Each paladin had been given credits to use to buy supplies, and Keith decided it would be an excellent idea to pick up some new clothes. His old clothes were getting worn, and his tee shirt was stretched awkwardly thanks to Allura's affinity for wearing it to sleep in. Not that he minded, in fact he absolutely loved it.

As soon as Lance showed up to take over control room duties, Keith hurried to get to the shops before closing. The open-air market had shops for just about anything. He marveled over how it reminded him of the markets back on Earth, save the odd shop that carried electric swords and laser blasters.

Eventually he'd found what he was looking for, a traditional black tunic and pants set that would be nice enough to wear to the celebration. It had red Altean designs stitched into it that made it look classy as well. He felt certain that Allura would approve of the style.

As he was about to leave the marketplace something caught his eye. Stepping over to the booth for a closer look, he realized that what he was admiring probably cost several times more than the money he had left over.

Still, it was a thing of beauty. The metal work was astonishing, certainly something he would keep in mind for later. He'd just have to save up for it.

"I see you have good taste, sir." Keith realized the shop owner was approaching, a gleam in his eye.

"Oh, um, sorry I was just looking."

"This is a one-of-a-kind piece. I made it myself."

"It is exquisite, but I don't have the money for it right now."

"Perhaps we could make a trade? That knife you're carrying, it must be worth something."

Keith regarded the salesman suspiciously. After finding the Blade of Marmora he realized that the heirloom was only valuable to a select group of people. Plus, it was technically his mother's, and despite her reemergence in his life he still felt a need to keep it close.

"You don't need to do that, son." spoke another, somewhat familiar voice.

Keith hadn't realized that the town elder had approached the stand as well. He instinctively tensed his muscles once he realized that this was the father of the man he'd exposed as a traitor. Chances were good that he was going to be thrown out into the street, and that was his best-case scenario.

The gentleman chuckled and waved his hand to indicate he held no ill will for the Captain. Keith felt himself relax at the gesture.

"I want to apologize again for what happened when you were here last. My son may have had good intentions, but what he did was very wrong. You had every right to have my son executed that day. However, you and your Princess chose mercy. I can never thank you enough for sparing my son."

Keith attempted a response, but was stopped when the man spoke again.

"I will take care of the cost of this for you. You have asked nothing from us and yet you've given our people hope and a future. So, let me return the favor."

"Thank you, sir. I can't…"

Before he could finish his thought the tribe leader had handed the storekeeper some coins in exchange for the item. It was then offered to Keith in a silk lined box and he couldn't help but run his fingers over the Altean writing embossed on the lid. His heartbeat quickened with the realization of exactly what this man had done for him.

He wasn't one for hugs, but he was tempted to give the old man a bear hug to thank him for his kindness.

When he looked up the elder was gone, however, having left as quickly and as quietly as he'd arrived.

The following evening, as he was readying for the celebration, the scene replayed in his head.

"Oh my. If I'd known you had such good taste I would have sent you to the space mall for clothes ages ago."

A melodic voice broke him from his recollections.

The corner of his mouth quirked up as he realized that he'd been right about the suit. Allura was certainly eyeing him appreciatively.

He returned the favor, realizing she was wearing _that_ dress.

"You look much better in that dress than the last girl that wore it." he joked.

"What, this old thing? The last time _I_ wore it some handsome pilot couldn't keep his hands off me."

"Don't let Lance hear you say that, he'll think you're talking about him."

She rolled her eyes at him as he laughed at the mental image.

"Shall we then?" Keith said, bowing to her while offering his hand.

"I suppose we should make an appearance. Although I'd much rather stay here tonight."

"As much as I'd love that, they'd probably send a search party after us."

"Fine. One hour then you're bringing me back here. Then you can show me your best moves _off_ the dance floor. Agreed?"

Damn, she always knew what to say. After all this time, she could still make his heart rate spike. He pulled her into his arms, leaning to whisper in her ear.

"I'm all in."


	15. Chapter 15

**The Getaway**

A whole week.

Not an hour. Not a day.

A week felt like an eternity to Allura.

The team needed a break and they were headed to Earth anyway. The time off would do them all some good.

Hunk planned visit his hometown. Lance and Pidge were picking up Colleen to take her to meet his family in Cuba. Shiro and Coran wanted to stay near the castle so they were content spending time poolside, although Keith swore that Shiro would find work to do after the first twenty-four hours.

Nanny decided to spend the time getting reacquainted with Red, though, and Allura reluctantly agreed. She couldn't help the niggling feeling that her place as a paladin was coming to an end.

 _Does he know?_

Granted the vacation was off to a bad start. Keith was spending the day in one-on-one meetings with all the other team members. She only could guess what they were discussing since she was not asked to attend.

"You already know what we're going to talk about. We discussed it last night."

Keith had tried to allay her worries that morning, sensing her annoyance at being excluded, even if attending them were just for appearances. She didn't like the idea of their "meetings" being dismissed as pillow talk.

So she waited patiently, bags packed, for him to keep his promise of an unforgettable vacation.

It was late morning by the time he finished.

As she watched him load the suitcases in the jump-ship, she couldn't help getting a sense of Déjà vu. The hours they spent alone together, when she started to acknowledge how she really felt about the young paladin. This time, hopefully, they won't have to rush back to the castle.

"There's no booster fuel in this one, right?" she asked as he approached her.

He laughed as he bent over and swiftly hooked his elbow under her knees, swooping her up into his arms like she fell into them long ago. The sparkle in his eye told her he too was remembering that fateful night.

"No, Princess." he smiled, leaning to kiss her lightly on the brow.

He helped hoist her into the cockpit before climbing in himself. After getting herself situated she found herself looking wistfully at him and realized how far they had come from that midnight getaway.

 _I should say something._

No, not now. There was time for that later, she just wanted to enjoy their time together. The Alliance was growing and Lotor was making little headway since taking over command of the Galra forces. That said, chances were that they may not have another opportunity to be, well, normal, for a long time.

Things were going to change soon, they all could sense it. This time Allura was especially worried, though. This time was different.

"Where to first, Allura?"

The question brought her back to the present. It took her a moment to collect her thoughts. So many places had looked intriguing that she'd never really nailed down which ones she wanted to see.

"Oh, ah, right. I'd like to see the giant cat first, I guess."

"The Sphinx?"

"Yes, the one your mother talked about."

She wasn't sure what she expected. Granted when Nanny told the story she neglected to tell how it was made. But the lack of color, of detail, was a bit of a shock. Earth was much younger than Altea, that she knew. However, she didn't understand just how different their civilizations were ten-thousand years ago.

Keith was in awe though. She could see it in his features, full of a mixture of amazement and pride. It made sense; despite his ancestry he was still mostly human, raised on a planet inhabited solely by humans.

Her heart felt a bit lighter watching him. He had seen so much through the viewpoint of her history for so long, now it was time for her to see things from his.

Next choice was his, the Taj Mahal. After that she requested The Great Wall of China. Each place they visited gave her more and more insight to her paladins and she reveled in the knowledge.

Four days had already come and gone. Allura was grateful that the Garrison was now international and provided them shelter each night, however uninspiring it may have been. She was enjoying herself but longed for a nice, soft bed to sleep in.

Keith may have had the same thoughts. She could see him shifting uncomfortably in his seat at breakfast, his back cracking with each stretch.

"Tonight, we're staying at a hotel, Princess."

She was relieved to hear him say it. He'd been on the phone for an hour with Headquarters and she imagined they'd pulled some strings for him.

Paris was a beautiful city. She could understand why people loved it so much. They decided to spend more than a day there, visiting the Louvre, Versailles, and Notre Dame Cathedral. The second night they ended their evening at the top of the Eiffel Tower.

Looking out over the lights of the city made her almost forget everything. If they could defeat Zarkon, she would have no objections to them spending their lifetimes in a place like this.

 _It's been a wonderful getaway, and it's almost over. I need to tell him._

The wind blew a chill over her exposed shoulders. Keith must have noticed because he circled his arm around them, drawing her into his warmth.

"You're cold, we should go."

The next day they flew back to the Garrison. None of the other paladins were back yet, all of them due the following afternoon. As expected, Shiro was in the middle of a group of cadets talking about the Kerberos mission and how he ended up on the other side of the universe with a bunch of students just like them.

The youngsters looked at him in awe, then over to where Keith and Allura where standing in the doorway they'd just entered. After being introduced to the cadets they answered questions before class was dismissed.

"I'd have laughed my ass off if anyone had ever told me you'd be a Captain one day."

Commander Iverson was walking into the room as the students were leaving. His tone was serious but his half-grin indicated he was joking. Keith responded the best way he knew how, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall. He'd always done that before but now it was different. Now he exuded confidence. His shoulders stayed squared and his back straight, a quirk of his lip and raised eyebrow to complete the look.

"Did you get it?" was his only response.

"Yup. 'Round back, all fixed up and ready to go."

"Thank you, sir."

Allura followed him to the rear of the building which looked to be a graveyard for old ships. Keith led her to something that was covered in a tarp, too small to be a ship she surmised.

"Hello, beautiful." he spoke as he lifted the cover off a shiny red…thing.

"Princess, wanna go for a ride?"

He was not doing a very decent job of holding in his excitement, and Allura felt like she had to say yes despite her reservations. Although he had excellent skills as a pilot it just didn't look, well, safe.

"Is this the contraption Lance and Hunk said you tried to kill them with?"

"Hey, I was trying to make a getaway and they all hopped on and slowed me down. If I hadn't gone over the cliff we'd be in lockup and you'd be short five pilots."

Allura rolled her eyes but she knew he was right.

"Fine, but take it slow this time. We've got nowhere to be tonight."

She climbed on behind him and slid her arms around his waist. She could feel his heart pounding as they took off towards the desert, and that combined with the feeling of his muscles tensing under her chest made her regret telling him to take his time.

Her arms tightened around him as her nails started to dig into his sides. She playfully bit at the junction of his neck and shoulder, urging him to speed up.

He got the message.

She had no idea how fast they were going now, and she really didn't care. As the child of royalty such a thing would have never been allowed, but she relished the feel of the wind in her hair as they zoomed over the sand.

They reached a small building right as the sun began to set. Keith swung his legs around to face her and she marveled at how beautiful his eyes were in this light. However, the ride had gotten other ideas in their heads and soon they were tangled in each other's arms, lips drawn together like magnets.

She could check making love in a desert under a purple sky off her "to do" list now.

The next morning, she woke up in the sleeping bag by herself. Keith was not in the room with her either.

Since it was getting dark when they'd arrived, and since he still had one more thing to show her, they'd decided to stay overnight in the small shack. She still couldn't believe he had lived there for a year, all alone. As tough as Keith could be it did make her sad to think what his life must have been like with no friends or family to keep him company.

Now she really understood his behavior when they first met.

Behind her the door creaked open and Keith poked his head in.

"Hungry?"

He'd cooked breakfast for her, but since they'd not really brought any food with them she decided to forgo asking exactly what it was she was eating.

After they were done he asked her to walk with him towards some raised structures that looked like mountains, but to her eye were not natural.

Upon entering one of the caves she was immediately drawn to carvings on the walls. She drew a short breath when she realized just what they were.

"This is where Blue Lion slept?" she inquired.

"Yeah. I found the caves with the markings earlier, but they didn't react until Lance showed up."

Allura absently touched one of the carvings and it lit up meekly under her hand.

"Hmm. I figured once we took Blue these would have gone dormant. I guess they're responding to your energy."

"They brought you to me, didn't they?" Allura mused, thanking the stars that he'd allowed himself to be drawn to this place. To be drawn to her.

She turned to face him, noticing a slight flushing of his cheeks as he shoved his right hand in his jacket pocket. When he brought it back out it revealed a beautiful box.

He stepped cautiously toward her, as if, somehow, he feared the floor might once again collapse beneath his feet. Allura couldn't help but glance at the box, curious as to when he could have purchased something without her noticing.

It wasn't until he reached out to place the box into her hands that she noticed it.

The writing was Altean.

"What…"

"Open it."

She lifted the lid of the box revealing the most beautiful ear cuff she'd ever seen. It was crafted from silver and gold delicately laced together in swirling patterns that bloomed at the top into a lovely pink sapphire flower at the top.

"A Juniberry." she sighed as she lightly brushed her finger over the gemstones. Tears began to prick at her eyes.

 _But how did he-_

"Do you like it?"

"Keith, it's- it's perfect. But, do you know what this means?"

His face grew a bit redder but when his eyes met hers she knew he did.

"Who told you?"

"I asked Coran. I'd seen a lot of women on New Altea wearing something like this and was curious."

"So, he's okay? With this?"

Keith smiled tentatively. She could tell he was concerned with her response.

"Yeah. I mean, I know this falls more in line with Earth traditions, and you being a Princess and all maybe that's not what you wanted. It's okay if you aren't comfortable with it. It's just that, well, I'm ready."

Allura felt that her heart stopped for a tick, wondering if this was his true intention.

"Humans, at least where I grew up, usually it's a diamond on a ring. Truthfully, I thought that wasn't practical and this would be more, um, visible. In case anyone was curious."

At this point she was having trouble keeping a straight face. She was torn between letting him ramble on adorably and tackling him to the floor.

 _Coran is going to pay for this._

"Allura? Say something, please!"

"Keith, there's been something I've been meaning to talk to you about. But, maybe- well, here."

She reached into her bag and pulled out a clasp. It was gold with a blue marking that symbolized the Royal House of Altea.

"I was trying to figure when to offer this to you. It seems now is an appropriate time."

Her eyes followed his face, looking for a spark of recognition. On closer inspection of the insignia his eyes grew wider, his hand that had almost touched it suddenly recoiling.

"This was your father's, wasn't it?"

"It was. And now it's going to be yours."


	16. Chapter 16

**The Proposal**

"So…is that a yes?"

Keith was regretting the many times he blew off watching those romantic movies with the rest of the team. He was in unchartered territory, had already forgotten the knee thing, and was almost positive he would have trouble navigating the rest of this proposal.

Allura must have caught on to his uncertainty and gave him a loving smile as she ran her arms up under his, bringing him into a tight hug.

"How could I possibly say no to you?" she replied in her low bedroom voice. God, he loved that sound.

"Well, I, um, kinda didn't do it right. I don't think."

 _Stop talking, idiot._

"Lucky for you I'm quite unaware of human traditions then."

For the first time in what felt like forever, Keith was pretty sure his heart started beating again. Allura never made him feel inadequate when it came to this relationship stuff. Of course, that made him wonder exactly what it was she _did_ see in him.

"So, who else knows about this? Besides Coran, I mean?"

The look on her face as she said Coran's name made Keith feel a bit sorry for him. He knew the Princess was not letting his deception go that easily.

"Well, I told Mom. And Shiro…"

 _Shit, that's her 'I know there's more you're not telling me' look._

"and Pidge and Hunk and Lance." he mumbled as he looked to something that wasn't her face.

"You must have felt pretty confident I'd say yes, huh?" she teased.

"I just wanted to be sure it wouldn't cause any problems with the team. Plus, there was something else I needed to discuss with them."

Keith noticed Allura's face sour a bit. He didn't like leaving her out of discussions so it wasn't something he made a habit of. Surely, she understood that this was a special circumstance.

"You want me to stop flying Red, don't you?"

Wait, had he said something to-

"Look, I know your mom wants to fly again and I'm sure you expect me to go back to watching from the castle. It's just that I'd like to stay on the team a bit longer. I've earned that at least."

Keith shook his head forcefully. Did she really think he'd treat her any differently now?

"Actually I had something else in mind. That's why I met with the other paladins separately. I, actually _we_ , want you to train to fly Black."

Allura looked like she was about to respond but stopped mid-thought, her mouth hanging slightly open in the cutest way possible.

There was no way she wasn't going to get kissed looking like that.

Damn, why hadn't he already kissed her? Like after she said yes? She said yes and good god why hadn't he studied up on this? He was so, so lost.

She broke the kiss for a moment to playfully smack him on the chest with her palm before grabbing his collar to bring him back in for another.

He knew she'd be upset with him for keeping quiet the whole week, but he also knew she'd be thrilled at the prospect of piloting as the head of Voltron.

"So, Coran knew we were proposing to each other and didn't say anything. What do you think his punishment should be?"

"He has to be Hunk's sous chef for two weeks." Keith offered.

As sneaky as Coran had been he couldn't fault him too much. Keith had asked that his secret be kept and he was sure Allura had done the same.

The sun was almost directly above them as they left the caves to head to the shack. Soon they were back on the hover bike and headed towards the castle.

Nanny had been out training with Red when she saw them approaching. Quickly she caught up to them on the ground before leaping nimbly over their heads and landing directly in front of them.

"Shit!" Keith cursed as he brought them to a hasty stop a few feet from Red's nose, almost throwing his fiancée off when it skidded sideways.

 _His fiancée._ He could get used to calling her that.

"I see where you get it from." Allura laughed as soon as she managed to draw oxygen into her lungs again.

"Like you aren't as bad. Our kids are going to give us hell."

The reality was starting to sink in and he was admittedly excited about the prospect of being dad to a brood of little daredevils. Not that he was in a hurry, they still had a war to win, but as soon as possible.

"So are there congratulations in order, or will I have to cancel the caterers." Nanny joked as she emerged from the lion's mouth.

Keith was regretting two things now. Letting her pilot Red _and_ telling her his plans. She was certainly making up for lost time in the embarrassing parent department.

"Cancel the caterers, we're eloping." Keith shot back, winking at Allura- although she likely had no idea what they were talking about.

"My baby boy is getting married; if you elope just remember there's no place in the universe Red can't find you." Nanny retorted before bringing her son and future daughter-in-law into a tight embrace.

The happy group chatted a bit longer before they separated and made their way to the Castle to see Shiro and Coran before the others returned.

Shiro was first to offer his congratulations.

"So, have you chosen a best man yet? Cause I look really good in a tux if you must know."

"Dude, you don't even know if she said yes yet. And I have it narrowed down to you and Slav."

"First, I've spent a week cooped up with Coran who _cannot_ keep secrets after a couple of drinks. Second, you'll never find a tux with that many arms."

To hear them talk it seemed like they were normal people, not space explorers defending galaxies against an alien threat. Keith embraced the moment, hoping that at the end of all of it they would find themselves back together. A family.

Within the hour, the rest of the team had returned. Hunk looked well fed, and Pidge and Lance had deep tans from probably spending the entire week at the beach.

Once each of them had offered their well wishes to the happy couple, Coran left to drop Shiro off at the Garrison and pick Matt up in exchange.

Allura and Pidge broke off from the group to discuss their vacations, so Hunk and Keith took the opportunity to grill Lance about his trip.

"They loved Katie, of course, and her mom seemed to get along well with my family. She really enjoyed it too, although I think she wished Mr. Holt was there."

"Hey, we're freeing prisoners much more often now. Sooner or later we'll find him." Hunk assured Lance.

Keith wished he felt so certain. The Galra were beefing up defenses at all the prisons so rescues were getting harder, but that wouldn't stop him from trying.

Coran returned with their newest team member and the ship was off to its next destination. Matt was cautious around them, not really knowing anyone in the room very well.

"Can one of you boys show our young recruit to his sleeping quarters?" asked Coran, busy himself with manning the castle-ship.

"Keith, do you mind showing me? I'd like to get a chance to ask you about the lions." Matt requested, his voice carrying a sense of urgency.

After grabbing his bags the two men made their way to the wing where the paladins' rooms were. Keith entered first and Matt followed, quickly dropping his bags to the floor. He began to nervously pace the floor, effectively blocking the exit.

"Is something wrong Matt? You can talk to me if you are worried about anything."

Matt's shoes screeched as he stopped abruptly, spinning himself to face Keith.

"If I tell you something can you promise not to share the information with anyone?" he asked, his voice just above a whisper.

"That depends. If necessary I will bring Allura into the conversation. We're on your side, no matter what. You have nothing to worry about. Plus, we're all scared of Katie." Keith offered jokingly, trying to make the trainee feel at ease.

Matt walked over to the bunk and sat down heavily, his hands scrubbing his face as if they could erase his thoughts.

"The Garrison's working on something. Something big. It's not at HQ and I have no access to any of the data. But those crystals you brought weren't all for the new fleet, that much I know."

The news should have surprised him but he knew how things were done in the military. Keith instinctively decided to return to headquarters to grill Iverson about Matt's intel. A warship with that much firepower was not something he felt humans were ready to acquire.

The only thing right now stopping larger nations from going to war was the fact that they had a bigger, scarier foe. If the Galra were defeated, he didn't want to imagine how quickly they might decide to use alien technology to destroy one another.

"Coran, we need to go back to Earth. Abort the jump."

"Sorry Captain, no can do."

"It's important, I'll explain on the way."

"We have a more pressing issue. Prince Bandor sent a distress call from New Altea. Lotor is heading for them with a substantial number of Galra ships. They need our help!"

 _Shit._

"Matt, we'll get to the bottom of this later. You're about to get a crash course in castle defenses in the meantime."

"Allura, did you hear that?" Keith shouted through the coms as the two men ran for the control room.

"We're on our way."

The rest of the paladins followed on their heels, having heard the commotion in the hallway. Luckily, they were well rested and ready for a fight.

"Coran, what's the story?"

"Apparently the Galra have another spy sending them information. They know that their ruse was discovered and that Allura won't be handed to them on a silver platter. Lotor is furious and has threatened to destroy the planet."

Keith was hoping that Romelle would be able to get everyone into the underground barracks. They may not have been entirely complete but would hold up to an attack. The biggest concern would be if it was a drawn-out fight people might get violent with one another, since water and rations may not have been put in place yet.

The Princess and Pidge arrived a few ticks later and Coran waited for Keith's final instructions. As soon as Allura was in place the castle jumped through the wormhole to the planet.

On arrival, they could see that Bandor was already engaging the larger ships, with smaller vessels sneaking past to fire on the villagers. Romelle hailed the castle-ship to let them know that most everyone was safely in the shelter, save a few holdouts who didn't want to leave their homes earlier and were now trapped above ground.

"Nanny, you take Red. Allura, you will fly Black. Drop me in the center of town and I'll try to rescue as many as I can." 

"Keith, we don't even know if I can fly Black, and I can't have you risk your life being exposed like that!"

"If anyone can fly her it's you. I trust you, and she will too."

"It's too dangerous!" Allura protested, her voice cracking.

They'd been here before. Keith running off to rescue villagers, he'd done it many times now. Every other time he'd gone in without a second thought, running to danger because he couldn't bear to stand by idly and watch. This was the first time his feet didn't immediately want to respond, however.

This time he had so much more to lose. He had plans. He had a future, with her.

He'd promised to always come back to her, no matter what. This is one promise he couldn't break.


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: I finished the chapter just before the tragic events of this week occurred so I delayed posting it a bit longer. Please note there is an injury due to the battle so some may wish to postpone reading.**

 **The Expectation**

"Quiznak. The controls are not responding," she cursed as she pushed buttons frantically.

Allura knew it was a long-shot. She'd never flown Black before and wasn't sure she was close to ready.

It probably didn't help that she was close to panicking, which was a very alien concept to her.

Maybe it was the fact that the man she had just agreed to marry was going to risk it all for people he didn't even know. People who had refused to do what they were told in the first place. Reckless, foolish people.

 _Whoa, where are these thoughts coming from?_

For now, she was going to blame her sudden coldness to the stress of the situation. Sure, a lot had happened and she hadn't had a chance to process it all yet. Still it didn't excuse her lack of empathy for the citizens trapped below.

"Allura, let me get her started, then you can jump in when we reach the outskirts of the village. That'll give you time to calm down a bit."

As much as she'd like to argue there simply wasn't time. She stood swiftly and moved to the rear of the cockpit to allow Keith access to the controls.

The lion sped toward New Altea and only slowed once they neared the surface. It would be a miracle to find any survivors with the fleet of fighter ships bearing down on them. The Princess tensed as her paranoia started to increase.

The decision was split second. Allura knew Keith needed to pilot Black to guarantee their success. She realized there was no other option but to take his place saving the villagers. As soon as Black touched down she made her move.

"I love you, so don't get yourself killed okay," she spoke softly as she opened the hatch.

"What the hell? Allura!"

Allura's eyes met with Keith's as she climbed out of the cockpit. Her stomach dropped at the sight; his expression was angry but also fearful.

That was pretty much how she'd felt about letting him go. She couldn't risk losing him, not that he'd have listened if she'd tried to explain herself.

Using her jetpack to land safely on the rocky ground she turned briefly to the Black Lion hovering just above her head. She placed her palm on her chest, wanting to convey what her heart had directed her to do.

A moment later she turned to run to the village, only glancing over her shoulder to make sure he hadn't jumped out himself to follow her.

Luckily, he knew her to well at this point, and had taken to the sky once again to join the rest of the team.

The fact that he left without a word chilled her though. He was only quiet when he was hurt, and she hated inflicting that on him.

Still she had a mission to do, so she dismissed her worries to the back of her mind. The people of New Altea were her priority for the time being.

Once she reached the town she began a door-to-door search for survivors. Calling out was useless due to the sounds of explosions drowning out her voice.

Piles of burning rubble, once homes and businesses, sent smoke into the air and created its own set of problems. Her suit's infrared camera had her looking in every direction, trying to find movement amongst the brighter hues.

Finally, she saw it. In one collapsed building, there was the slightest shuffling, a stirring so faint she almost missed it. Running to lift the wooden beams that crossed over the form she spotted a small hand.

A child.

She'd never moved so fast, her heart thumping as she coaxed the boards up and off the tiny form.

Gradually she cleared enough to pull the young girl from the wreckage. Her body was bruised and bloody but appeared to be lacking any fatal wounds. Allura breathed a sigh of relief as she scooped the little one up and made her way to the bunkers.

The Princess cursed her own body, which seemed stiff and resistant to running for long stretches now. She stopped inside a small building which had thus far escaped the bombing.

 _Just long enough to catch my breath._

Suddenly she realized she was not alone. Behind the counter in the far corner she spotted the top of a head. No, two. Or three.

"I am Princess Allura, and I'm here to take you to a safe location away from the fighting. Please show yourselves."

Upon hearing this several Alteans came from all directions, having hidden in whatever darkened corner they could find.

They were mostly covered in ash, which she could only assume meant that they'd not been in the building when the firing started. Well, apart from two men, who probably were the owners of the shop. They looked considerably less frazzled than the others.

Now the Princess had to get not only the young girl to safety, but also roughly twenty others as well.

Allura scanned the room for exits, trying to find one facing the underground shelter. It wasn't a long distance away but fighter ships were firing all around. She would need to create a distraction.

No, she would need to _be_ the distraction.

Handing the injured child to one of the larger men in the group to carry, she instructed them to run two at a time to the bunker to not draw attention. On her signal, they started out the back door while she ran out the front.

Halfway to the town square she noticed the firing had stopped and the ships were starting to circle in the sky above her. Her best guess would be that they recognized her and had been instructed to keep her alive, but Galra weren't the kind to call a cease-fire just because they'd gotten what they wanted.

Just then she felt something jut into her back, right over her heart.

A blaster no doubt, poised to kill in an instant.

"Guess you'll be coming with me, Princess," said her attacker, his voice oozing with contempt.

She turned her head enough to see it was one of the two shopkeepers. That would explain why the building was still standing- he was the spy working for the Galra.

"You would do this to your own people to put a few GAC in your pocket?"

"Hey, a man's gotta make a living, right? And we're basically sitting ducks since Voltron isn't staying here where it belongs."

"We've got a universe to protect. We can't just stay in one place."

"Tell that to the people who died when Altea was destroyed. Voltron ran away then, too." His eyes darkened as he hurled the accusation at her, knowing his words would leave a mark on her soul.

Before Allura could answer a ship flew low overhead. It landed a short distance away in the town square and caused the smoke to retreat in a billowing circle to the smoldering ruins from which it came. The craft wasn't fighter class- it was sleek with a shiny silver body and Zarkon's crest adorning the wings- instead it looked like a transport for dignitaries.

The traitor pushed the Princess in the direction of the ship. As they approached the cargo hatch opened revealing two figures who looked frighteningly familiar.

"Haggar! Lotor! What do you want?"

 _Dammit, I can't call Keith. He can't leave the battle._

"Well well, Princess. It's been a while, have you missed me?"

"Not yet. Why don't you leave for now and try asking again in a few thousand years?"

"Allura, is that any way to speak to your future husband?"

"If you forced me to marry you, I'd be a widow in an hour."

"I'll need less than that to get what I want. You'll give me an heir that will grant me domain over all your allied planets. I don't care if you spend the time in a locked cell or not."

Allura felt a wave of disgust flow over her that could have drowned a weaker person. She knew, however, that she needed to figure out how she was going to get out of this situation. As strong as she was there would be a very slim chance of taking on the two of them with a gun at her back and ship lasers trained on her from all angles.

"Lotor, if you want her to give you a son I'll have to take care of something first," snarled Haggar.

"What is it you old witch?"

"She's already carrying a child. I can sense it, the next Altean prince."

"What?"

"What?"

"WHAT?"

Allura spoke first. Lotor second.

Keith was last. He must have heard through the coms.

 _I'm so sorry my love._

She hated that he found out this way. Hell, she hated that she found out this way.

Just then she heard the zap of a blaster. Instinctively she looked down expecting to see a blackened hole in her armor. Instead the body of the man holding the gun to her slumped sideways, bumping into her on the way to the ground.

Looking to the right she saw someone step from the shadow of the shop's doorway. This was her chance to escape. As she ran towards him she realized who it was.

"Nice to finally meet you, Princess. Name's Anton, and I'll be your rescuer today."

She could see why Coran had fallen for this guy, he was quite the charmer even when he was facing danger.

Just then a loud roar overhead indicated that the lions had arrived, quickly attacking the air units to give Allura and Anton cover.

"I'm going back. This fight is between Lotor and me. He's not getting away again!"

"Allura stay down!" Keith shouted through the coms.

"He needs to be stopped. I will not allow this to continue, for people to be hurt again and again."

" _Please_. I can't lose both of you," he begged, his voice cracking under the weight of his fear.

It was too late. She was in the open now, still a distance away yet an easy shot for Haggar's magic.

As the black lightning from the witch's staff arced towards her she froze.

Suddenly the only thing she cared about was the piece of Keith she carried inside her. Everything she wanted was about to be lost in an instant.

That instant never came.

The Red lion swooped down and blocked the charge as she felt two strong arms sweep her away from the debris it kicked up.

"It's okay Princess, I've got you."

Keith held her tightly against his chest, tremors running down his body. He flew her to the far side of the shop she'd just abandoned, setting her on her feet but not letting her free from his embrace. He dotted her face with relieved kisses before checking her for any injuries.

"I thought I was going to lose you." Keith finally broke down and it was destroying her. He'd never cried like that before; it wasn't long before her resolve broke as well.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't know, if I had known…" Allura sobbed, unable to finish her thought.

"Hey, you're okay," he sighed, moving his hand to her belly. "The baby- _our_ baby- is okay too, right?"

She nodded slightly, still worried that Haggar may try to strike again. Then the realization hit.

"Nanny took a direct hit, we need to see if she's okay!"


	18. Chapter 18

**The Execution**

"Get to the Black Lion!"

Keith was not going to leave Allura exposed, so even if she couldn't pilot it she'd be safer inside.

"No, you may need me to fly Red," Allura countered, standing firm in her resolve.

"I may need you to fly Black as well. Just go!"

This time he didn't bother waiting for a rebuttal. He needed to get to his mother quickly and didn't have the luxury of discussing the matter further.

His concern was somewhat allayed when he saw that Lance and Pidge had put up a wall of ice covered vines around Lotor's ship, denying easy access to the downed lion.

As he got closer he could see Nanny emerging from the hatch, looking slightly dazed but able to move on her own accord.

 _She's okay, thank the stars_.

Once the other paladins had cleared out the remaining Galra ships they began to concentrate their fire on the cruiser in the square. Keith had no doubt that it had a reinforced shield so it would unlikely take much damage, but the distraction would at least allow him time to get his mother to safety.

He found Nanny leaning heavily against Red's hull, seemingly drained of energy. That was a feeling he never enjoyed, having been the target of Haggar's strikes multiple times himself.

Quintessence was something he didn't even know he had until the first time it was stripped from him. He imagined that's how dying felt. His hope now was that since the strike was aimed directly for his child it wouldn't have been strong enough to seriously harm his mother or Red.

His child. She'd tried to hurt his child.

Never in his life had Keith wanted to kill someone. Sure, he'd fought in battles but everything there happens quickly; if he'd killed someone he wasn't aware and it rarely crossed his mind.

Now? Now he wanted blood.

"Mom, are you alright," he asked, pulling her into a hug.

Nanny gently pushed him back, then absently rubbed her shoulder before nodding her head. "I'm fine, just a bit shaken."

"Let's get Red going and get you out of here."

She turned to look in to the cockpit, a curious expression on her face. Like she expected to see something that wasn't there. Her face was still turned away from him when she responded.

"No, we have to end this here."

"Then you take Red, I'll face Lotor and Haggar."

"Keith, I need to do this. This is a fight I should have ended long ago."

Before he could respond she had activated her bayard and was running towards the ice wall. She turned back briefly to wave, a silver gleam in her hand.

She'd swiped his Marmora blade.

At that moment Keith heard a rumbling coming from the Red Lion. Her power had finally returned. It seemed she knew she was going to be part of this fight- with or without him- but she was inviting him back into the pilot's seat.

He followed his mother's movements with his eyes before jumping through the hatch. She was going to need an opening, after all. Keith quickly righted the lion and aimed for the ice wall.

As soon as she reached the barrier she stopped and raised her right hand. A few short ticks later and the signal was given.

Red's fire gave her an opening.

Keith watched in awe as she swiftly cut through the sentries that were left standing after the blast. Behind them stood Haggar, looking weary from using her magic to try to hit the other lions, and Lotor, who had his hand on the hilt of his sword.

He was a fool for not having already drawn it. Nanny ran full force towards him and ran her sword diagonally across his chest, leaving a gaping wound that bled profusely.

As he dropped to the ground she swung around to strike Haggar with the Blade. Even though the sword pierced the witch she was able to stumble to Lotor, effectively shielding him from further blows.

Nanny moved to stand over the two, the tip of her Blade resting near the other woman's neck.

"I didn't want it to come to this." Nanny's voice trembled as she spoke.

"You'd kill your own mother? Your own brother? Just to protect _them_?"

Keith's mind blanked. Those words were the only thing standing between him and his resolve to crush them underfoot.

"You're my mother by blood only. You've tried to steal my Princess, kill my son Keith, and now deny me my grandchild. I have no love left for either of you."

"I should have known one of those lowly paladins would take what is rightfully mine," Lotor spat.

Nanny responded by driving her bayard into his side.

"That's payback for my son."

Haggar appeared somewhat more thoughtful, possibly realizing that the baby she tried to take from them was her own flesh and blood.

She didn't even notice the blade down on her until it had struck. The witch's right arm was cut off completely.

"And that's for Shiro."

After a tense moment, the bayard was deactivated and the Blade sheathed.

Keith was stunned at the carnage left on the ground in front of him. At that moment, however, he understood the extent of his mother's love.

Nanny wasn't protecting him from harm. She was protecting him from having to make a choice he may not have been prepared to make.

To kill or to show mercy.

Red lowered her head to allow Nanny to enter the ship before taking off in the direction of the Black Lion.

Black met them half way.

"Allura, are you okay?"

"Yes. Seems you were right, I just had to focus."

"So…how much of that did you hear," Keith asked quietly.

"All of it." Allura's reply was somewhat hesitant and his chest tightened with worry.

God, she probably hated him right now. It was enough to ask her to carry a child that was part Galra, but this? A child that was a direct descendant of the people who took away her father and her planet? Surely, she wouldn't want to go through with it. With him.

He looked at Nanny, who was now crumpled on the floor and crying. Part of him wanted to be angry at her for keeping this from him. The other part understood why she did it.

"Keith," Allura finally spoke again. "I'm not marrying Lotor or carrying his child. That has nothing to do with his family, it has to do with the kind of person he is. This is about bringing hope to the universe, and for that we need Voltron. You've proven your loyalty to the mission. You've proven your love for me. I need you with me. I love you, and I love this child."

Those words would have been a balm to Keith in the past; now they failed to steady his nerves.

"Zarkon is not my father."

Keith turned abruptly to face his mother.

"My father was a good man. He started the resistance that eventually became the Blade of Marmora. The knife you've carried all these years was his. I took his side but Haggar was obsessed with power, so she left us for him."

The two sat in silence, Nanny sobbing quietly while her son wondered if he should ask the question.

"What happened to your father?"

"Zarkon's forces captured him. He was executed as a traitor by- by her hand."

As soon as Keith landed Red in her hangar he left his seat and dropped to the floor beside his mother.

"I'm so sorry. I'll make the bastard pay I swear."

"Revenge isn't what I want for you. You can be the kind of man my father was if you don't let hate and fear control you. Live for your future, not for my past."

 _A future. My future. With my family._

"Hey Captain, we just got word from Prince Bandor. They've taken Lotor and Haggar into custody and will deliver them to the Alliance prison base."

They weren't dead. That meant Zarkon would come after them eventually. But still it would buy the team some time to help the Alteans rebuild and then return to Earth.

He'd almost forgotten about the information Matt had given him.

"Keith, go find Allura. I'll be okay, if you need me I'll be in my quarters."

"Mom, no, it's…"

"Go. That's your future, remember," she quickly cut into his thought.

He hugged her tightly, his way of thanking her for taking on his burden.

Nanny pulled away with a warm smile, nodding the direction of the door. The irony was not lost on him. During his Blade of Marmora trials, he was trying to go through the door to determine who he was. Now he was going through the door to determine who he would become.

A husband and a father. And a good man, like his grandfather.

Keith ran down the corridors until he could sense the Princess nearby. He found Allura in the cryopod chamber; Coran had likely insisted she be checked immediately for any injuries to herself or the baby.

She was already connected to many different machines, several screens displaying numbers and symbols, none of which made any sense to him.

He quickly moved to her side. He could see the concern in her eyes and imagined they were likely a mirror image of his.

Coran was busy checking all the stats while the two of them waited in heavy silence. They both jumped when he finally spoke.

"Well everything looks normal! One healthy mom and one healthy child!"

Keith's knees finally gave out and he sank to the floor with relief. Allura fell over into his arms, nearly taking the medical equipment with her.

"So, we have less than nine months to defeat Zarkon now," Keith muttered, half-jokingly.

Allura and Coran exchanged confused glances before the advisor replied.

"Actually, Altean pregnancies last about four to five months. So, we're on a bit tighter of a timeline if you hope to accomplish that.

One thing Keith never wanted to do was to bring a child into the middle of a war. Now, faced with this reality, he wondered if he really could be the man his grandfather was. Now even his mother may not be able to keep the blood from his hands.

Allura looked at him with worry. She was good at reading his moods; most likely she could tell his thoughts had turned dark.

"Coran, have Romelle return to the castle then set a course for Earth. There's something we need to pick up."

Keith gaped at her. He'd expected to stay a while to help the Alteans.

"What are we picking up?"

"Shiro. He's your best man, right? Now, where do you want to get married?"


	19. Chapter 19

**Note:** _1st half of the chapter is Allura's POV, the 2nd half Keith's_

 **The Wedding**

Allura gazed out over the ocean and knew that this was the right spot.

When Keith had mentioned castle ruins as a possibility she'd at first been confused as to why someone would want to marry in such a place. But, after he explained the lore associated with it she understood.

Tintagel Castle wasn't as old as the Castle of Lions. It didn't have technology of any kind, and had been built from basic materials like wood and stone. Due to time and the elements, only portions of the walls remained as a testament to their former glory.

And it was perfect.

Keith had talked about the legend of King Arthur many times. His eyes would light up when he spoke of the Knights of the Round Table, detailing their adventures of bravery fighting for their king and kingdom.

In her mind, it wasn't too different from her father, King Alfor, and the Paladins of Voltron.

 _Her father._

She could hardly believe that she'd been able to see him again.

When Nanny told her what she saw during the battle she couldn't hope to believe it. Her father's spirit appearing in the cockpit just after the Red Lion had been struck. She'd first suspected that her former caregiver had suffered a hallucination from a head injury and only imagined she saw him there.

But Keith's face when he heard the story made her reconsider.

He recounted the time that, during the battle with Zarkon, he'd seen the same. Voltron was floating lifeless in space and the castle-ship had taken heavy damage when its weapons were deflected back onto it. That's when it appeared.

On the screen beside him, he saw King Alfor.

He'd never said anything to Allura because he, too, thought it was a trick of his mind. Now, however, he seemed to realize the truth.

Her father's spirit, which had been bonded to Red when he was her paladin, returned there after the castle had been infected. He existed now on the astral plane, much as Shiro and Zarkon had, and she was able to see him again.

The memory comforted her. As much as she would have loved having her father with her on her wedding day, it was enough to see him and to tell him all the things she'd held in her heart.

 _Father, please continue to watch over our family, like you did when I was small._

However, today was not going to be a day to look back. Today was about going forward, starting a new life with the man she loved so deeply.

"Princess, are you okay?" Pidge looked at her with concern, likely picking up on her mood.

"I'm good. I'm really good." Allura meant it, she truly had never been happier than she was at this moment.

"Then we should get ready for the ceremony. Don't want to be late for your own wedding, do you?" Romelle teased.

Allura smiled to her bridesmaids, both wearing pink dresses that reminded her of the color of Juniberry flowers. She thoughtfully touched her fingers to the jeweled clasp on her ear and smiled. It wasn't Altea but she still felt its presence, even here.

Before they left the dressing tent she took one last look in the mirror. The gown she had chosen was made of a material called chiffon. The bodice was adorned with silver beading that stopped just under her breasts, and the rest of the dress flowed loosely to the ground.

Satisfied that everything was in order she nodded to Pidge, who peeked out to see if the boys had arrived.

"Okay Princess, once the music starts it's time to go. So, if you're going to make a run for it this is your last chance!" Pidge was trying to look serious but was completely unsuccessful.

"Pidge, knock it off! Do you really want Keith coming after us if she disappears now? C'mon Allura, I'll get you to the altar if I have to knock these two over to do it."

Allura laughed at Hunk's determination. Since Coran was performing the Altean rituals for the service she'd decided that the Yellow paladin was the perfect person for the job.

As the music* began to play the girls made their way to the small opening in the tent.

She could see out enough to notice Lance's face when Pidge stepped out first. His smile lit up and his chest puffed out as he watched her make her way to the altar.

Next was Romelle, and Shiro wore a grin she wasn't sure she'd ever seen on him before.

Between the two girls she silently wondered which one was going to be next to be wed.

Finally, the music began to get a bit louder, letting Hunk know it was time to walk her down the aisle.

She'd honestly been trying to avoid looking at Keith directly. Her emotions were already wreaking havoc on her due to the pregnancy, and seeing him might cause her already overwhelmed emotions to crash over the edge.

But look at him she did. How could she not?

For all the time they'd spent together, the changes had happened so subtly they'd almost gone unnoticed. His hair had gotten longer and reminded her more and more of how her father wore it when he was younger. Usually he had it pulled into a ponytail during training exercises and any time he wore his helmet. Today he'd pulled the sides back in a clasp to reveal more of his face, the rest of his hair draping his broad shoulders. His muscular build was easy to appreciate under the white shirt he wore, the vest pulling a bit tightly as he rolled his shoulders back, standing straight as any good soldier would.

His face was broader, his jaw squarer. Still it was soft. Sometimes she felt that look was reserved just for her, with his smile so warm and inviting.

He and the others were wearing light grey pants that matched their vests and ties to match the dresses. Apparently, this was earth fashion, and she had to admit she appreciated it.

Especially on Keith.

In fact, she'd picked a dress that was just a shade lighter than his eye color (which was now admittedly her favorite color) so his tie would enhance them that much more. Those eyes that pulled her deeper every time they locked with hers.

Those eyes that were now right in front of her.

She had no recollection of Hunk taking her arm or leading her to the spot were Keith was standing. Now she was there, holding her lover's hands and thanking the stars that they had made it this far.

Nanny stepped forward to give Coran a red ribbon, which would be used in the binding ceremony.

After wrapping their right hands together, he spoke an ancient Altean blessing. Allura could feel the quintessence moving from his hand to hers, and from hers into his.

"Exchanging quintessence binds your lifeforces together," Coran explained to those gathered. "Your connection to one another is stronger than before."

Allura heard Keith inhale sharply, most likely surprised by the pulsing energy pouring into him. Still his smile never faded.

"How are you feeling, my love?"

"Amazing. You?"

"Very much the same."

"I really want to kiss you right now, Princess."

 _I really want to kiss you, too._

"I love you, Keith."

"I know."

If Keith ever doubted how Allura felt about him, those worries were now scattered in the fading sunlight that stretched over the water.

As the sun was setting the sky turned red. The colors were dancing off her dress and making her look every bit the fairy tale princess. Even her hair, loosely tied up with curls framing her face, was streaked with color. She looked like a goddess. If he were an artist he would paint her like this on every blank canvas he could find.

She wasn't simply beautiful. She was a masterpiece.

Once their hands were unbound, Commander Iverson stepped towards the couple to officiate their vows.

The officer looked to Shiro. "Do you have the rings?"

The bands they had chosen were matching, rubies encased in gold. Keith took her hand and began to slide the ring on her finger.

"Allura, there was a time in my life when I could never have imagined a day like this. I always felt something was missing, though. Everything I did up until the day we left this planet felt like it was moving towards something big, but never in my dreams did that include falling in love. The first time I saw you was like no other first. Yet each of our firsts since then have been better than the last, and I can't wait to experience more with you. Once I swore to you that I'd stay by your side no matter what. This ring reaffirms that vow to you. The rest of my life is yours."

His hand was trembling while he was speaking, but his gaze never left hers.

He meant every word.

Now it was time for Allura to place the ring on his hand.

"Keith, over ten-thousand years ago I fell asleep, and when I awoke it felt like there was no future for me. My people, my planet, my family…they were long gone. But there you were, waiting for me with a new future. At the time, I didn't understand why I felt drawn to you. Now I know. Fate brought you to me, of this I'm certain. Yet falling in love with you wasn't written in our stars, it was the labor of your heart that brought me here. Your patience, understanding and acceptance gave me hope for us. I happily accept your offer, and in return you will have my future days."

Hope.

When he'd accompanied Allura to the astral plane to try to find her father that's all he could offer her. No guarantees. And when they finally spoke with King Alfor, that's why he gave Keith his blessing- because he'd given the Princess hope when she had lost hers.

"I now pronounce you husband and wife," boomed Iverson's voice.

"Can I kiss her yet?"

Allura didn't even wait for a response. Her lips found their way to his and he answered with fervor.

 _Married._

If there's one thing he'd never get tired of it would be this.

Sure, things weren't always perfect. He was sure he didn't want them to be. Perfect is predictable, and predictable is dull. Life with the Princess was anything but boring. It was winks and nudges, inside jokes and long talks. It was promises and apologies. Tears and kisses. And love.

Maybe it was perfect, after all.

Keith patiently worked his way through photographs and congratulations. Finally, the party moved to a grassy overlook where they danced to an old song** that he had chosen as his love letter to her.

The darkness of the area afforded them an amazing view of the starlit sky. He couldn't help but muse that he'd had to fly past all of them to get to this point.

"Star-crossed lovers" had a new meaning for him _._

Allura gave him a curious look when he chuckled at nothing. He'd have to introduce her to Shakespeare someday. There were so many more things he wanted to share with her, he really needed to start a list.

"Do you remember our first dance, Captain?"

Keith hummed the song*** in her ear in answer.

He hadn't wanted to go. In fact, Lance had basically bribed him with offers to take his week of kitchen duty just to get him there. Being a wingman wasn't his thing though, so he'd stepped outside of the dance hall to get some fresh air.

She'd surprised him, showing up looking not like herself at all. He'd decided to play along, assuming she was there to observe. Or maybe she wanted to just enjoy not being the leader of a team of universe defenders. But he'd stuck close to her in case she needed his protection.

 _Right. As if she needed it_.

No, he wanted to be close to her and took advantage of the situation. It wasn't a paladin asking his Princess for a dance; it was a regular guy helping a regular girl out of an awkward situation. He'd not expected to dance the rest of the evening with her, although he wouldn't complain about it one bit.

That first kiss that night felt like wildfire licked by a strong wind, and if everything around them burned he couldn't be bothered.

And here, from the charred earth, new life was growing.

"Thank you," he whispered.

"For what?"

"Seeing me."

"Then I should thank you."

"What did I do?"

"You opened my eyes."

 **A/N: Songs mentioned in the story are as follows:**

 ***Wedding Song: "Your Song" (Instrumental) from Moulin Rouge**

 ****Wedding Dance: "Running Home to You" from The Flash**

 *****Dance from chapter 1: "So Close" from Enchanted**


	20. Chapter 20

**The Honeymoon**

"Good morning, beautiful." Keith's voice was a soothing wake-up call she never tired of.

Allura turned her head to the left to see him lying on his side, looking like he'd been awake for some time. She wondered how long he'd been watching her sleep.

"Good morning, handsome."

"Wife," he whispered, as a lopsided grin brightened his face.

"Husband," she replied, marveling at how naturally it rolled off her tongue.

She had no idea how late in the day it was, but the sunlight was settling itself on them like a warm blanket. This was one disadvantage of living in space, days and nights running together with no natural way to keep time.

For the moment, they were happy to relish their new relationship status. The day was theirs to do as little or as much as they wanted.

Keith slid towards her until his arm draped over her stomach. For a second a look of surprise crossed his features before he pulled the sheets back. He moved his hand to outline the rising circle of her abdomen, thoughtfully tracing the only outward proof of her motherhood.

"Was it this big yesterday?"

Before a statement like that may have insulted her; now she welcomed it.

"If it was I imagine you were too distracted to notice," she teased.

Keith leaned over to kiss her belly as he laughed. "I don't know what you're talking about, Princess."

Even though they had been intimate many times before, the previous night felt like starting over. Maybe it was the residual excitement from the day. Maybe it was the romantic atmosphere of the room.

Whatever it was she was hoping they could find a seamstress to repair the buttons on Keith's vest. She'd love to see him wear it again.

Allura really wanted to get her mind off the memory however, otherwise they might not leave the hotel for some time. The look on his face and the fact that he'd moved even closer didn't help. Especially not with his leg that had slid between hers, or the press of his muscles into her side. None of that was distracting her at all.

"Keith?"

"You know one of the side effects of the binding ceremony is that I know exactly what you're thinking about right now," he purred as he placed long, slow kisses on her exposed shoulder.

They were certainly not going anywhere anytime soon.

A few hours and a short nap later they were showered and dressed. Hunger had finally won over and they'd decided to check out the hotel restaurant.

The smell from the kitchen directed them to the place, which was thankfully quiet due to the odd hour. They were seated in a corner booth which hid them from other patrons, meaning Allura didn't have to worry about curious onlookers. Even with her ears covered her facial markings sometimes drew attention that sometimes ended in awkward questions or comments.

Keith looked at Allura thoughtfully, as if he were trying to gage what he wanted to say.

"Princess, how are we going to do this?"

"Do what?"

"Raise a baby in the middle of a war. How will we protect him?"

She'd be lying if she said it hadn't been on her mind nearly constantly since that day. Her mind vacillated between worrying about losing the child and worrying about the child losing them. As Keith had been orphaned also, she could only imagine how this affected him.

"Shiro should be nearly ready to return to the team, and I've agreed to have Anton move into the castle as well. We'll have plenty of people who will love him and protect him as much as us."

Keith nodded in agreement, although his face still showed concern. Allura decided it was time to change the subject to something lighter. They were still on their honeymoon and couldn't spend it miserably.

"So, next important topic. What are we going to name the little paladin?"

She could tell that did the trick. He'd obviously not even thought about it to this point as his face went blank for a moment. Finally, he smiled warmly as he seemed to settle on a choice.

"I like Daniel. It was my dad's name, if- if that's okay."

At first Allura was shocked by the suggestion as Keith so rarely even spoke of him that his name to this point had been a mystery. Still, it touched her that he loved the father he'd lost enough to memorialize him in such a way.

"Daniel, hmm? That would make a great name for a young prince," she responded thoughtfully.

Her heart warmed with the sight of her husband's face lighting up at her approval. His hand reached across the table to grasp hers tightly in a silent symbol of gratitude.

"I hope he looks like you," she continued.

"Not if he's lucky."

The remainder of the meal was spent discussing plans for the baby, which of course reminded Allura that Keith needed to find a safe place to store his weapons when he wasn't using them. She laughed to herself when she imagined what his bayard might become in the hands of a precocious toddler. Stuffed animals and toy space ships would likely fall outside its capabilities after all.

After dinner, they retired early so they could get a head start on the next day.

Morning came far too quickly for her liking, but Keith had obviously gotten up even earlier. Breakfast had just been delivered and he'd already packed most of their things for the return trip. They were due back at the Garrison the next day so they'd decided to spend the night closer to the base.

Still, there were places they wanted to see, even if just for a brief time.

First, they flew down the coastline of North America, Keith pointing out famous landmarks in large cities like Boston and New York. Allura was enthralled by the amusement parks in Florida and demanded that they come back to visit first chance they got.

Next up were the ruins of ancient tribes of the Mayan civilization, who also built pyramids like the Egyptians of old.

Finally, they made their way to South America to a place called Machu Picchu, which was settled high in the mountains. They stayed there for a while, marveling in the ingenuity of the Incans who had built it. Afterwards Keith turned the ship towards giant hieroglyphs called the Nazca Lines.

"These are amazing! How did they do this?"

"No one's sure. There's lots of theories though," Keith replied.

It was the straight lines that caught her eye, however. They weren't roads, but she couldn't be sure what they were intended to be.

"Keith, can you scan those darker lines and send it to Coran. They look a bit familiar."

After a few passes over the landscape they decided to hail the Castle of Lions.

"Ah, Princess! How goes the sugar moon?"

"Coran, it's called a honeymoon," Keith argued.

"Hunk informed me that honey is just a cheap substitute for sugar. You should be giving the Princess nothing but the best!"

Allura looked over at her husband, who was biting his lip trying not to laugh out loud. Humans were so funny when it came to naming things. She could understand Coran's confusion but it was amusing to say the least.

"Coran, can you run the scans we sent you through the system? For some reason they feel a bit…familiar."

"I'll get right on it. Will we see you two tomorrow then?"

Allura nodded before signing off.

"We should probably start heading back towards the Garrison. Where are we staying tonight?"

Keith pondered a moment before replying. "The Grand Canyon?"

Once she saw it she understood. The name didn't even begin to do it justice, even Voltron would be dwarfed by its size. Layers upon layers of earth worn away by nature leaving behind the most breathtaking scenery.

The heat of the day was starting to give way to the cooler evening. They'd rented a cabin to stay in but they both wanted to enjoy the view for a bit longer. Keith started a campfire and they curled up under a blanket for additional warmth.

They stayed there until exhaustion began to overtake them, finally retiring to their cabin for the night.

The sounds of nature roused them the next day, birds happily carrying on their business while oblivious to the sleeping couple inside. Allura would have been thrilled to have even a few extra ticks to sleep. Every day her muscles tired more easily and her clothes strained a bit more. She worried at this rate if she'd be able to walk around the castle once she was close to full term.

Finally, she dragged herself out of bed, ate a quick breakfast and then readied herself to head back to the Garrison.

 _The honeymoon is over, back to reality now._

They left the cabin shortly after to meet with Commander Iverson that afternoon. Keith had been anxious to know more about the secret plans Matt had alerted him about. She herself was curious about the lines they'd seen the day before in Peru.

En route to the Garrison they were contacted by Coran. According to the analysis it was a kind of map. The interesting part is that it was a map of the solar system, and it pointed to the moon known as Kerberos.

Keith's eyes blew wide at the mention of the name. Allura knew its relevance as well, since it was where the Galra had abducted Shiro's team.

But why would an ancient people draw directions to a place they didn't even know existed?

"Coran, can you do some reconnaissance to Kerberos for us?"

"Already on it Captain. We should be there any—" Coran's voice sputtered. He wasn't looking at them anymore, but at the large screen above. His face froze in a look of utter disbelief.

"Is everything okay? Tell me what's going on," she demanded.

"It's—it's gone. Where Kerberos should be, there's nothing but debris."

Allura could feel her heart sink with those words. She'd seen too many planets destroyed at the hands of the Galra. The only relief she felt was knowing it was uninhabited and that no one had died needlessly.

"Coran, do you think the Galra blew it up after they grabbed Shiro's team," Keith queried.

"I'm not sure but it doesn't look like it was hit by blasters. It looks like it was cracked open, like an egg."

At that moment, the screen on the pod switched over to a view of the remnants of Kerberos. Just as Coran had stated there was bits of planet, but it looked as if it had been hollow on the inside. As if it had been formed around something and someone had removed what was inside.

"Something tells me this wasn't the work of Zarkon's forces, it seems a bit too crude," Allura pondered.

She looked over to Keith for confirmation; he nodded sternly in agreement. There was a very good chance that the Kerberos mission had been to look for more than microscopic life-forms. Maybe someone before them had figured out the directions to the planet and had come looking for treasure instead of knowledge.

But who? And what did they find?

As soon as they reached Galaxy Garrison, Keith had demanded a meeting with Iverson. Instead they were met by a young officer, Staff Sergeant Williams.

"Ah, I never expected to see you here again," she smoothed as she shook Keith's hand.

Allura never considered herself the jealous type, but she didn't appreciate being ignored either. She stepped forward to remind the young woman that they had not been introduced.

"This is my _wife_ , Princess Allura," Keith offered, putting an emphasis on her newly acquired title.

"I see. Nice to meet you, Princess. So, you're the one who bagged and tagged him. Congrats on accomplishing something no other girl here could."

Her response came with a rather terse smile; Allura couldn't help but wonder what the history behind it was.

"Sorry, I'm unfamiliar with the phrase 'bagged and tagged' so I'm not sure what that means."

"Oh, Keith was chased by lots of girls here. He was our hot-shot pilot which brought him a lot of attention. Sadly, he never returned it, always too busy reading books and going out to the desert."

At this point he was blushing profusely, something that almost never happened. Still, it was endearing and she was enjoying every minute of it. She also wondered if that played into Lance's imaginary rivalry with him. Maybe she'd ask him about that later.

"That's enough reminiscing, thanks. Can we just get on to what we came here for?" Keith pouted.

Williams directed them to an elevator that took the trio down to a long, dark passageway. Waiting for them was an electric cart, which Allura was thankful for since she had no idea how long the distance was they'd need to travel.

Finally, they reached a doorway that opened to a hangar filled with white airplanes, each marked solely with a single red stripe. The Staff Sergeant motioned for them to board one of the planes before excusing herself.

"This will take you where you need to go. Enjoy your trip."

Once seated on the jet Allura could feel the vibrations from the engines as it started to taxi towards a small opening. It seemed odd to her that they would go to such lengths to hide an airstrip.

"Keith, where are they taking us?"

"From the looks of it, a place called Area 51."


	21. Chapter 21

**The Conspiracy**

"Allura, is something bothering you?"

Her mouth opened as if to reply but quickly snapped shut again. Keith knew that their encounter with his old classmate hadn't gone over too well.

"I never dated her, if that's what you're wondering."

"No, it's not that really. Just, the sadness in her eyes when she looked at you. I used to feel that way also, so I guess I just felt a bit bad for her."

He felt his heart squeeze a bit at the reminder of those days. From the moment he first laid eyes on Allura there was never anyone else who could turn his head. Yet, at that time he also felt she was far from his reach and had refused to allow himself to hope.

Now he was married to her and she was carrying his child. Of all the things that had happened to him in the space of these few years that was the one thing he still had trouble wrapping his head around.

 _For some reason, she chose me._

Soon the plane touched down near an outcropping of large buildings. He had been right about where they were headed and couldn't help but wonder if what Matt had been concerned about would be found here.

As they disembarked they were greeted by none other than Commander Iverson.

"I see you've finally caught on to our little program here," he laughed, nodding towards the largest building on the campus.

"What exactly is going on here? What have you been keeping from us?" Keith could feel his face heating with anger but tried to keep his voice level. "What happened to Kerberos?"

"Come with me, there's someone I'd like you to meet," Iverson responded. "You remember the UFO crash back in 1947?"

"Roswell? Yeah, I've read up on it. Classic government coverup."

"With good reason. We had to hide the lone survivor not only from enemy countries but also from the Galra." Keith was pretty good at reading Iverson's expressions, and it appeared he was telling the truth.

As they stepped in the large hangar there was a gust of cool air that pushed away the dry heat of the desert. It caused their eyes to blur so that it took a moment for them to discover the big secret that was hidden in the room.

A white lion.

It was smaller than Red, and it currently wasn't surrounded by a force field. But there was no doubt that this was part of Voltron, although for the time being they weren't sure how it fit the giant robot.

"Commander, where did you find this? Was this—" Allura stopped short, seeming to already know the answer to her question.

"This is why we sent the mission to Kerberos. We found her in the core, waiting to be set free."

Keith was enraged to think that Shiro and his team had suffered trying to find something humankind couldn't even use. The big question was how they found it. Earth technology was nowhere as advanced as Altean or Galra technology, so they must have figured out the map he and Allura had found. But how did they manage to decipher it?

As if on cue, a small figure emerged from the shadow of the giant beast. Wearing coveralls, welding goggles and a hardhat, the figure approached them while wiping their hands on a rag. Hands that looked familiar but not human.

"Oh, Root, this is Keith and Princess Allura. Remember I told you about them before?"

Root stepped closer and removed her eyewear and hat, reaching out her hand to shake theirs.

"You're Olkari," Allura said, obviously shocked by the revelation.

The alien smiled and nodded, seemingly pleased that they were familiar with her people. She motioned towards the back of the building where there was a doorway leading to another room. They followed her but their eyes kept wandering back to the lion, desperate to get a closer look.

Eventually the two were led into a small conference room. Iverson closed the door behind him to muffle the sounds of the workers that echoed into the hallway. Root turned towards them and bowed slowly, a sign of respect for the Princess of Altea and for her husband, its Prince.

"I am so happy to have finally met you after all this time," she began. "My apologies for waiting until we're behind closed doors, but we want workers here to know as little as possible about our project, which includes your identities."

Once seated at the table, the Olkari began her tale of how she came to Earth. Her team had been on a reconnaissance mission to find the lions when they crashed; the other two members sadly died in the collision. She had been taken by the government to be interrogated and eventually agreed to work with them to try to repair her ship.

"Unfortunately, Earth doesn't have the resources needed for that, so I was stranded here. In the meantime, the work we did paid off for humans at least."

"Root is the reason technology took off in the late 1900's. Computers, the internet, smart phones. All thanks to her. We could use her technology for pretty much anything that wasn't for destruction," chimed Iverson.

"Well, it wasn't supposed to be, but that's another issue," she reminded him. "Anyway, once I figured out the location of the White Lion we started work on a ship to reach Kerberos."

She went on to explain that the Olkari had been helping King Alfor build the White Lion in secret once relations with the Galra started to sour. It was unfinished when he sent Voltron into hiding, so Blue had to tow it to its destination. Blue's pilot is the one who hid the lion in space rocks, freezing them to hold it together.

"So, the mission was to find the lion and bring it to Earth? Why wasn't the crew alerted to the true objective?" Keith wondered what Shiro would think of this latest information.

"We just wanted to confirm the location, we hadn't yet figured out how we'd get it back here," Iverson replied. "Commander Holt was aware of the unusual circumstances but was sworn to secrecy. He was chosen for the mission because of his connection to Root, actually."

Keith and Allura looked to Iverson with curiosity. Neither Matt nor Pidge seemed aware of their father's connection to any top-secret government organization.

"I'm his distant grandmother," Root offered, sensing their confusion. "I mated with a human that carried our bloodline and had children. Samuel, Matt, and Katie, are also a result of that union. That's why they have a natural talent for science and technology."

"So, their connection to the Olkari is much stronger than we thought," Allura mused. "Even closer than the original paladin it seems."

At this point Keith was wondering if this was why Pidge's father had been separated from Matt and Shiro. It had been assumed that it was because he was weak, but what if Zarkon recognized his abilities? The Galra had used the Olkari to build weapons before, it wasn't beyond them to try it again.

As much as he hated the idea of such a good man being used for dark deeds, it relieved him somewhat to think that there was a better chance of that man still being alive.

"Root, could you please tell us more about the White Lion," Allura spoke, interrupting Keith's thoughts. "What was its purpose? It doesn't seem to fit Voltron's configuration, is it a weapon?"

The Olkari looked to Iverson for approval before speaking. "We aren't sure what form the lion will take when joined with the others. We do know it was designed to use light quintessence to counter the dark quintessence that Haggar had been testing. It would require someone who had mastered druid magic to operate it. At the time that would have been your mother, Princess. Once activated it could change the course of the war, but it could prove dangerous to the pilot too."

The gasp that escaped from Allura led Keith to believe that she was just as surprised about her mother being a druid as she was about the lion. He understood that losing her mother at an early age was difficult, but now with this new knowledge she would feel even less connected to her than before.

 _So Allura could fly it, but it could hurt her?_

The idea sent a chill down Keith's spine. Surely someone else could pilot it, right? Of course, it didn't even look like the lion was operational, much less capable of helping to take Zarkon down. Still, leaving it there didn't seem the best option, and the Princess seemed to agree.

"We're taking the White Lion with us," Allura asserted. "I'm unhappy that this was kept from us for so long. We could have helped get it ready much sooner had we been trusted with the information."

"Princess, with all due respect, you weren't even aware of the existence of the lion. You've had contact with the Olkari and they did not alert you to it either. We felt there had to be a reason for that." Root's voice was quieter but still firm.

Keith couldn't argue that assertion; Allura had just begun to learn to use her powers so they may have felt it premature to relay the information. Granted the Olkari didn't even know where it was so telling the team could have caused an unnecessary distraction.

"It was an insurance policy for us as well," Iverson added. "Until we could come up with a defense should Earth be attacked it was the only thing we had to possibly protect us. Now that we're covered you can take her. That is assuming you can get her to fly."

Keith's ears perked at the mention of building a defense. He'd long worried that such technology would be used for means other than defense should they fall into the wrong hands.

"Commander, are you implying that you've got more than a few ships to protect the planet? Didn't we learn our lesson from the nuclear arms race?"

Iverson's eyes narrowed at the implication. "This was a global effort. Every country contributed in some way and has claim to it. Pilots have come from all parts of the globe. We will be ready should the Galra come to us."

Keith looked to Allura to gage her reaction. Her people had built Voltron for the same reason, then Voltron became the catalyst for a war that spanned ten-thousand years. He waited quietly until she was ready to speak.

"We expect full details of your project, including pilot information. You betrayed our trust by lying about the use of the crystals, and you withheld crucial information. For us to continue to work together you must bridge the gap by allowing us access to everything, no matter how sensitive the data."

 _That's my girl._

Root slid the tablet she'd been holding over to Allura. Keith leaned over to look at the screen. It took a moment to digest exactly what they were looking at.

"Did—did you build your own Voltron?"

"Yes, Princess," Root responded. "It's comprised of fifteen vehicles that join into one giant robot. There are three teams of five: air, land, and sea teams. That way they are just as useful on Earth as they are in space."

"Are they already tested and functional?"

"We're in the training phase now, Captain. We have a team assembling at the Garrison as we speak," Iverson offered.

Keith had heard enough at this point, his blood pressure rising to the point that his head was throbbing. He stood quickly and offered his hand to Allura, signaling that he was ready for them to leave. Should they stay any longer he felt his temper would get the better of him.

At that moment, Coran's voice burst through the coms.

"Allura, Keith! Can you hear me?"

"Keith here. What's going on?"

"We've just received a communiqué from Zarkon. He wants to do a prisoner trade for Haggar."

 _That's odd. Why not Lotor, too?_

"No negotiations for now. I do not trust Zarkon to keep his word," Allura replied gruffly.

"Well, we may not have a choice. It's the prisoner he wants to trade. It's Pidge's father, Commander Holt."

 _Shit._

"Send Black to pick us up," Keith responded. "Don't say anything to Pidge or Matt until we get to the castle."

"Yeah, um, it's kind of too late for that. They took off in the Green Lion as soon as the transmission was complete. Lance is trying to chase them down in Blue. They can't wormhole so if you hurry back we can probably cut them off."

As the newlyweds went to rush out of the room they were stopped by Root's voice. "May I come with you?"

Keith didn't hesitate to say yes. To be honest he was afraid to leave her behind since she had been used to such ends as building another Voltron. As they reached the hangar they felt the ground shake and heard the familiar roar of Black. Suddenly Allura stopped, turning slowly towards the White Lion.

The lion who was now roaring back to her leader.

The sound reverberated through the metal building, shaking the walls. They watched the workers stop and turn towards it in utter disbelief.

"I guess she's finally ready to go," smiled Root.

"Allura, I don't want you to fly her now. I'll carry her to the castle."

"Keith, I can feel her reaching out to me. I'll be fine."

He knew there was no time to fight a losing battle. They needed to get to the Green Lion quickly.

"Fine, you and Root meet me back at the castle. We'll plan our next steps from there."

"Just don't be surprised if I'm parked in your spot when you get there," she teased.

"This isn't a competition, Allura."

"You're just saying that because you hate to lose, my love."


	22. Chapter 22

**The Secret**

"So, Root…" Allura stopped herself, unsure how to ask without being rude.

"Yes, Princess Allura?"

"Can I ask, well, your name. It's not your Olkari name, is it?"

Root smiled at the question. "No one's thought to ask me that for quite some time. Truth is I was given the nickname soon after arriving on Earth. After hearing about my people's use of nature in technology it just kind of happened."

"Will you keep it when you go home?"

"Depends on which place feels most like home, I suppose," she responded thoughtfully.

Allura hadn't thought about it, she just assumed that the Olkari would be excited to go to her place of birth once again. Chances are she still had family there who likely thought she had perished long ago. Maybe returning would be harder than staying away?

Luckily the trip to the castle was quick so the conversation ended there.

As she landed the White Lion in the empty hangar she realized that Keith had stayed behind her the whole way. His competitive nature always took a backseat to her safety so it shouldn't have surprised her when he arrived a minute after them. Still, by the time she exited the craft he was already waiting for her to disembark.

"Everything okay? Did the lion do anything to you?"

"Relax," she laughed. "Everything is fine, she flies even better than Red. But don't tell Red I said that, okay?"

Keith chuckled. Red had been through so many paladins he couldn't help but feel sorry for her. At least she and Nanny were getting along nicely.

Before leaving the hangar Allura looked back at the two lions and puzzled over what part the white lion played in Voltron. Its size was significantly smaller and didn't seem to have heavy armor or firepower. Hopefully it really could be useful in the fight against Zarkon.

They made their way to the control room to pinpoint the spot where they needed to be to catch Pidge and Matt in case Lance hadn't caught up with them yet. Soon the team was streaking across space, desperately hoping the two rogue pilots hadn't run into any Galra ships.

Once they exited the wormhole they were met with a large chunk of ice encasing the green lion; Blue was poised to shoot again should she break free. Coran called the two pilots up on the screen so they could talk.

Pidge's face was splotchy red and her eyes swollen from crying, Matt standing behind her with a frantic expression. Lance, however, had a look of fierce determination that was colored with both anger and fear. It was obvious that the siblings had ignored his pleas to wait for the rest of the crew.

"Pidge, you need to come back to the castle. We will ensure your father's safe return, but we're not going to do it by risking your life." Allura tried to sound firm but her voice was starting to crack.

The pilot of the Green Lion sat motionless, her hands tightly gripping the controls.

"Katie, please come back with me. I want to rescue your dad, too, but I'm sure he wouldn't be happy if he lost you in return for his freedom. And if I lost you…" Lance's thought dissolved into a sea of painful reality.

Everyone on the crew knew how deeply he'd fallen for Pidge, so much that he hadn't paid another woman any mind since the two had started dating. It was obvious he would do anything to protect her.

"He's right Pidge," Allura added, a realization settling in as she looked to her slightly rounded belly. "You know I'd give almost anything to have my father back. But now I understand what it is to put someone else first, to want more for your children than for yourself."

As the words left her lips she felt Keith's arm wrap around her waist, his hand resting where their son was growing. She knew he felt the same, about her and their baby.

"We'll agree to the trade," he offered.

The rest of the team looked at the Captain with confusion. Even Allura wondered if he had let his feelings corrupt his decision. She pulled him to the side to question his motives.

"Keith, what are you thinking? We can't just hand her over that easily!"

"Look, we don't yet know what the White Lion is capable of, nor do we know what the Earth Voltron can do for us. He only asked for Haggar, right? Maybe we can play that to our favor by letting Lotor know his father doesn't want him back."

"How much time do you think we can buy?"

"A few days at best. We need to find a neutral place to do the swap, and we need to do some tests to see what special powers White has. Did you see the bayard," Keith asked?

Allura shook her head. "I didn't see one, and Root made no mention of it. We'll have to search for it I guess."

"We can do that as soon as we have Pidge, Matt, and Lance back on board the ship. Last thing we need right now is for a Galra cruiser to come across them in that state."

Allura nodded her agreement and the two rejoined the rest of the crew, explaining their plan to the others in more detail. Once Pidge felt they were sincere in their offer to liberate her father she flew back to the castle, Lance staying near her lion until the bay doors closed behind her.

As soon as everyone reconvened in the control room Allura went through the introductions to acquaint Root with the rest of the team. She was a bit hesitant to tell Pidge about them being related and wondered if it were better to wait until later. However, Matt had a look of recognition and instead of shaking the Olkari's hand he lunged forward to hug her neck.

Pidge shot him a befuddled glance before demanding if he knew the stranger.

"Not technically, no. Dad told me about her shortly before the mission. He wasn't supposed to, but you know how bad he is with secrets and—"

"Matt, just tell me who she is!" At this point the Green Paladin's patience had clearly worn out.

Root stepped towards her and recounted the story from the time she arrived on Earth to the present. Pidge remained quiet while absorbing the new information. After a long silence she tearfully reached for a hug as well.

"Pidge, can you and Matt take Root to Black's hangar, there's something you need see," Keith instructed. "We'll meet you there in a bit, we just need to have a discussion with Coran first. Lance, you and Hunk should probably find Shiro and meet us there as well."

Once the control room had cleared of everyone but the three of them, Coran turned to Keith and Allura with a look of dreadful anticipation.

"I guess you want to know more about the White Lion, eh?"

"Coran, why haven't you told us about this before? We could have been looking for it." Allura was trying not to raise her voice to her advisor, as she was secretly hoping he'd have a very good reason for keeping them in the dark.

"Allura, what do you remember hearing about how your mother died?"

"I, well, I don't remember everything. Father told me her ship had been destroyed by Zarkon's fleet, but he never told me why she was on the ship in the first place. I always thought she was on a diplomatic mission. That's not true though, is it?"

Keith took her hand and directed her to sit next to him on the raised platform. He seemed to anticipate the toll this conversation was going to have on her and wanted to be as close to her as possible. She was thankful to have him there to lean on should she need it.

Coran knelt beside her as he continued to speak. "Your mother was returning from a meeting with the Olkari. She was there to inspect the construction of the new lion. On her way home, her ship was boarded by one of Zarkon's generals, a ruthless Galra who was known for his violent temper."

Allura squeezed Keith's fingers, slowly becoming aware that her mother's fate was far crueler than she'd previously imagined. He moved his free arm to her knee, his thumb sweeping her leg to soothe her.

"He hurt her, didn't he?" Now she could feel a knot forming in her stomach, fearful to learn the answer.

"When King Alfor found her on the ship she'd been tortured to the point that she was nearly unrecognizable. She died in his arms soon after. He didn't want you to see her like that, so he told you she died in such a way that you wouldn't ask to say goodbye to her physical form."

"Where is her body then? Where was she buried?"

 _Please don't say Altea. Anywhere but there._

"Your father had her cremated, her remains hidden within the castle along with the belongings from her ship. She had something with her that was miraculously kept from the Galra. It was the bayard for the new lion. If they'd found it they would have discovered its existence. She did well to keep it from them."

Allura knew he meant well by that. Her mother was a hero who died to protect her home. Still she had a young daughter who needed her, and it didn't seem that the White Lion was anything worth dying over.

Now her hands were shaking and the tears that she thought she'd long since expended were flowing down her cheeks and onto her shirt. She felt like she might vomit although she wasn't sure if there was anything to lose in the first place. Her knees reflexively folded up under her chin as if to keep her propped up.

 _Mother, I needed you. We needed you. For you to die like that…_

Her head was swimming now so she leaned into her husband for balance. Keith quickly scooped her into his lap, his arms holding her tightly. Although she knew that he was trying to calm her, she was painfully aware that he was also feeling her father's pain.

"I love you so much, Allura. If it ever comes to that I will gladly trade my life for yours. Tell them whatever they need to know. Never, ever let them do that to you. _Please_."

Long ago she would have considered such sentiment foolish.

She turned to wrap her arms around him; she could feel his body tremble. They held each other until they'd both regained their composure, only letting go knowing that there were things that needed to be done to prepare for the next move.

"We need to find the bayard. Coran, any idea where it might be?"

"No Princess, your father never told me. Occasionally he would disappear for a while, presumably to visit her. But I could never figure out where he went."

At that moment, it felt like there was little chance of finding the bayard. Allura was starting to give up on the idea of using her mother's lion at all when a squeak got her attention.

She looked down as the four space mice scurried into her lap.

 _Of course, they had adored him._

"I forgot how much you loved following Father around the castle. Can you show us where the bayard is?"

The mice nodded happily and darted out of the control room, Allura and Keith right on their tails. They ran down corridors that were barely used, past doors that likely hadn't been opened since the castle was abandoned on Arus.

The tiny creatures finally stopped in front of a wall bearing the crest of the royal family. Not something terribly out of place in a castle, but not in a spot one might typically find it.

"What is it? There's nothing here," Allura wondered aloud. "Are you sure this is the right place?"

Chulatt, the smallest of the mice, disappeared into a small opening in the bottom of the wall. Soon there was a humming noise as it slid open to reveal a semi-darkened chamber.

The only source of light was a small blue flame rising from a small crypt on the far wall. As their eyes adjusted to the light they realized there was nothing else in the room therefore the weapon they sought must have been entombed with her ashes.

Keith slowly removed the cover, careful not to disturb the fire in doing so. He pulled a flashlight from his pocket to check for booby traps. Once cleared he moved to the side to allow the Princess access to the box.

Allura reached down into the tomb, her hand caressing the urn where her mother's remains were kept. She would have time to cry over it later, now that she knew it was there. The important thing was that the bayard was propped up beside it, as if it were waiting to be used again.

She reached for it tentatively, drawing her hand back for fear it may not respond to her touch. Her mother had been a Druid it seemed, and her powers were likely far greater than Allura's.

Sensing her hesitation, Keith guided her hand with his until she was grasping the bayard tightly.

"What do you think it's form will be," he asked, his tone light and slightly teasing. "I'm gonna guess it's a whip. Not that I'm hoping for that or anything."

Allura looked over her shoulder to shoot him a disapproving look. It broke too soon as she saw his playful wink.

"Now that I know what to buy you for your next birthday, let's see what this thing can really do."

Keith stepped away to allow room for her to draw the bayard out. Soon it was glowing as it transformed into something neither had expected.

"It's a bow," Allura muttered. She'd taken archery lessons as a child but could she manage this? As she drew back the string an arrow made of pure quintessence appeared.

"Seems so," Keith replied, his eyes reflecting its aura. "That's amazing."

"We should go show the others."

"Wait, so does that mean Voltron can shoot arrows now?"

"Only one way to find out, my love."


	23. Chapter 23

**The Trade**

"How come the Princess gets to fly the new lion?"

"Lance, we've been over this. You're just not good enough."

"Keith, that's not true and you know it," Allura countered. "It was built for my mother and requires the ability to manipulate quintessence."

The two paladins threw each other a pointed look before returning to the conversation. Tensions were running high between Lance and Pidge, and Keith's attempt to refocus the Blue Paladin failed miserably. He really couldn't help but worry how their relationship troubles might affect the team.

It had been nearly a full day since they'd found the bayard. Since then Hunk and Pidge had been working with Root to try to find the key to the lion's place in the giant robot. They'd finally decided to just run the lions and let the sequence direct them.

Normally the Captain would have had no problem winging it, but his mind still went back to the theory that piloting it could hurt Allura.

 _And the baby._

He'd had Coran run scans on her after they'd found the bayard. And another in the morning. Everything seemed fine, but Daniel did have a bit of a growth spurt. So much so that Allura had to suddenly switch to maternity clothes to accommodate her growing waistline.

Granted he knew they were on a shorter than usual (for humans) schedule, but he couldn't shake the idea that the lion was somehow responsible for the sudden change.

Still they needed to do a test run and Allura had to fly. They eventually decided to take the castle to a galaxy that was out of the Galra Empire's reach to prevent being spotted and revealing their secret weapon. The ship was about to wormhole when the team received an SOS from the space prison where Haggar and Lotor were being held.

"Paladins of Voltron, we are under attack! Please help us immediately!"

Keith was worried about getting there in time. Since the prison was essentially a modified Olkari cube it was designed to float in space, allowing ease of movement to deter Galra forces from locating it. As an extra precaution the castle also didn't have updated coordinates, only previous ones.

"Pidge, we need to find that prison! If they succeed in grabbing the witch and Lotor—"

She didn't need him to finish the statement, her fingers busily flying over the controls. "I know Keith, we'll have no chance of rescuing my dad alive. Trust me, I'll find it."

Already the Captain was dreading his next orders, knowing they'd probably cost him sleep for the next week. The couch was stiff and unforgiving, but she wouldn't feel bad about putting him there. She might even kick him out of the bedroom entirely.

"Allura," he started, sucking in as much air as his lungs could hold, "you need to sit this one out. Mom will take Red."

To his relief she looked less angry than discouraged.

"Fine. But the second the team needs help I will be out there. Is that understood?"

"Yes, your highness," Keith teased, following up his response with a brief kiss on her forehead. He wouldn't argue with her, since he had no intention of letting her be needed for this mission.

Soon the castle-ship had locked onto the coordinates and Allura opened a wormhole. They were met on the other side with a large fleet of Galra ships firing furiously on the retaliating cube. As per their previous experience the cube was learning as it was taking hits, returning shots with greater intensity.

Still, the sheer number of enemy ships meant the prison was starting to be overwhelmed.

"Team, everyone to your lions. Slav, help Coran try to get a lock on which ship Commander Holt might be in. We'll try to distract but not destroy for now. Matt, you're with Pidge in case we need you to board a cruiser to get your father."

The battle was one of the toughest they'd ever faced. Zarkon meant business when it came to getting his witch back. Hunk played defense while Green and Blue used everything in their arsenal to slow the battle. Red and Black took out as many small fighter ships as they could, being careful to draw their shots away from the larger ones.

"Keith, something's going on with the cube. Look! The bottom corner, it's—" Coran's voice stopped as if he couldn't quite register what he was seeing.

Roughly one quarter of the cube began to change color- taking on a hue that looked suspiciously like dark quintessence- before breaking away from the larger cube. Black flew in for a closer look when a bright flash knocked it backwards. Keith frantically tried to right the lion but it wasn't responding, and it looked like the fractured part of the cube was preparing to fire once more.

He braced for the hit, unaware that a small wormhole opened nearby. Without warning the White Lion- _oh god, Allura_ \- flew directly at the threat, the momentum sending both of them through the opening.

"ALLURA!" Keith screamed as he began to desperately shift levers in an attempt to move the disabled craft.

 _Keith, come find us. We'll be waiting._

The fissure closed unceremoniously as the fighting came to a halt. The Galra fighters retreated, their goal now somewhere on the other side of the universe. Bandor radioed that his ships were close, ready to guard the base from further attacks.

The Black Paladin sat frozen in his seat, any attempts to breathe thwarted by the heaviness in his chest. The hum of the lion's system coming back online nearly escaped his notice.

"Keith, are you okay? Do you need help?"

Hunk's voice finally snapped him back to reality. The team was awaiting his orders, circling him anxiously.

"Everyone back to the castle. We need to find out where they went."

Suddenly a shot flew at them from the darkness of space. Roughly a dozen fighters zoomed around them like errant flies, preventing them from shooting lest another paladin get caught in friendly fire.

"Pidge, make a break for the castle, I'll cover ya," Lance ordered.

The Green Lion was halfway to her berth when she took a hit.

"No! You son of a bitch," Lance cried, firing several rounds at the offending craft.

"Pidge, are you there? Can you hear me," Keith called to her while assisting the team in clearing out the remaining fighters?

"Guys, Pidge is unconscious and the lion is unresponsive. What do I do?" Matt's face appeared on the screen, clearly shaken.

Behind him there was a loud whirring noise and a blue glow. Matt stepped to the side to watch the proceedings, offering the rest of the team a view as well.

From the floor of the cockpit rose a second seat, just to the right of the pilot's. On either side two orbs appeared, mirroring the one's in the castle's control room.

The ships navigation system, used by Allura to steer the castle through space.

"Matt, take a seat and see if you can make it to the dock. We'll watch your back."

"Coran, can all the lions do that?" Hunk's voice was cautiously optimistic as he questioned the royal advisor.

"I know King Alfor considered having two paladins for each lion after Zarkon turned against the team, but he never told me the upgrades had been completed. So, to answer your question, I don't know."

Once the team had all reached their hangars, Keith hailed the bridge to see if the White Lion had been located.

Nothing.

He shouldn't have been surprised. The newer lion had yet to be added to the tracking system, and depending how far away it was it might be at a point it could require several days to find.

Keith made his way to the control deck, cursing himself for not locking Allura in their room until after the battle. There had to be a way to find them. He was sure of it.

 _Our connection._

They'd had precious little use for it after the bonding ceremony, but he could recall Coran saying it should be stronger now. So far, he'd only been able to hear Allura's thoughts, though, so coordinates might prove more complicated.

Pidge's voice broke his train of thought. "Were we able to locate my father on any of the ships? There were so many, he had to have been on one of them."

"Sorry Number Five, nothing but Galra life forms on those ships. I'm so sorry."

"Makes me regret holding back. Now I'm really itching to destroy some ships," Lance spit through clenched teeth.

"My guess is if we find Allura we'll find plenty of ships to shoot," Hunk responded.

Keith was seeing red now. "Not if, when. I _**will**_ find them, and I _**will**_ save them."

The room fell silent, no one addressing the harsh reality. They could move in any direction and it could either take them closer to the Princess or farther away. Despite having so many geniuses in the room there was little to be done.

"Coran, what if we open a wormhole, do you think the ship will take us where they went?"

"I don't know Nanny, but we can always give it a try," the advisor replied as he stepped up to the navigation podium.

"Why isn't a wormhole opening up? You've done it before," Lance asked impatiently.

"The ship simply isn't responding to me. I can't make her go!"

"I have an idea," interrupted Root. She'd been so quiet Keith had forgotten she was even there.

"I'll welcome any ideas at this point," Keith responded, trying to hide the tension in his voice.

Root walked over to him, taking his two hands and directing him to where the control columns stood, shooing Coran out of the way. She placed Keith's palms gingerly on them, covering his fingers with her own.

"Keith, you're the only link we have to Princess Allura right now. You're our best hope. Concentrate on who you want to see most of all."

Determination overthrew desperation. If he was going to reach them he had to reach out _to_ them. Somewhere deep in his belly his instinct told him she was right, he was going to find them no matter what.

He closed his eyes and cleared his mind of everything but them.

 _Allura and Daniel. My wife and my son. My family._

Soon the screen flickered with swirls and points of lights indicating stars and planets. A portal appeared before them and Keith willed the spaceship in its direction. They found themselves hurtling through one of the bumpiest wormholes they'd ever experienced, but no one thought to complain.

"Everyone to your lions. We're all going as teams so listen up for your pairing."

Wide eyes all shot to his face to check for accuracy. Obviously they were questioning his clear-headedness at this moment.

"Why would we do that?" Hunk asked the question as though he liked the idea but wasn't sure if he should.

"We know Green has a jump seat for a co-pilot or navigator, whichever. It stands to reason the others do as well. I can't shake that it appeared for a reason, so let's take advantage of it," Keith replied.

"But only Matt is trained as a paladin," countered Pidge.

"None of us was trained the first time around. And this time they won't be alone." Keith knew it was a long shot, but his gut was telling him it was the right move to make.

Quickly he paired them off: Shay with Hunk, Anton with Nanny, Root with Lance, Matt with Pidge.

"Shiro and Romelle are with me in Black," he finally said.

"Wait, why do you need both of us with you? Shiro should be fine without me," questioned Romelle.

"I know, but this is important," he responded.

He already knew what he needed to do.

As they were getting the secondary team geared up Lance pulled Keith aside. "Look, is there any chance of putting Katie with me?"

"I'm not sure Matt is ready to be on his own yet. Why?"

"After what happened earlier, I…I can't protect her when she's in another lion," Lance whispered. "You should understand more than anyone what that's like."

"I do buddy, which is why you have to learn to trust that she'll be okay," Keith mused, the realization settling in uncomfortably. "If I'd let Allura go in the first place I could have covered for her. She'd be here—"

Lance nodded in understanding. The whole team would probably suffer if Pidge wasn't in her lion anyway.

Just as the newly minted pairings were making their way to their respective bays the castle exited the wormhole.

"Keith, I can see them! They're both here, but the White Lion looks a bit sluggish," Coran's concerned voice scratched over the coms.

Roll call indicated everyone was settled into their lions; in the Black Lion, he had put Romelle in the jump seat, keeping Shiro beside him to watch for looming threats of Galra ships. Immediately they took off into the dark expanse of space, each lion taking up a defensive position around the Princess.

Neither the White Lion nor the cube were moving, simply floating in eerie silence.

"Allura, can you hear me? Are you okay?"

Keith held his breath, waiting impatiently for a response. He edged his lion closer to hers, attempting to get a visual. Anything to calm his mind and still his nerves.

Nothing.

 _Hold on Allura, I've got you._

Standing brusquely, he motioned for Shiro to take his seat.

"You're in charge for now, old friend," Keith commanded.

"What are you doing? You're not seriously planning to do what I think you're planning to do," Shiro retorted.

"Just shut up and trust me," Keith smirked.

* * *

 _Author's Note:_

 _Hey guys, thanks for your patience on this chapter. I went on vacation a couple of weeks ago which delayed things a bit, and in the middle of it fell and hurt my hand pretty badly. I can finally type again so, yay, new chapter!_

 _Anyway, one of our keen-eyed fans noticed something from the classic series so after a brief chat we agreed that a competition of sorts would be fun! For each chapter if you spot something from Voltron: Defenders of the Universe, Voltron Force or even an episode of Legendary Defenders, write a comment for that chapter naming any Easter eggs you find. I'll contact the winner prior to the last chapter (the Epilogue if you will) and you'll have the chance to appear in the story!_

 _Good luck and thanks for reading!_


	24. Chapter 24

**The Visit**

"Let me sleep a bit longer! I'm tired and my stomach hurts badly. I think I'm sick."

"Allura, it's time to wake up. You've got to finish your studies today, my baby girl."

"Mother, could you please stop calling me that? I'm not a baby anymore," the Princess grumbled as she buried herself in the covers.

Her mother was moving around the room, pulling out clothes for her to wear that day. Usually Nanny would do that for her, but she hadn't seen her caregiver for a while. And she certainly wasn't going to complain, spending time with her mother was always a treat.

Truth was she did feel sick, but her mother would work through all sorts of ailments without complaint so Allura was determined to do so as well.

"What am I studying today, mother?"

The Queen turned to her with a serious expression, making Allura feel somewhat uncomfortable. Her face wasn't angry, just rigid. Her mother always had a softer visage so seeing her like this confused the young princess.

She responded coldly, "How to fight. How to survive. How to win."

 _Ouch!_

There was that pain again, followed by a wave of nausea.

"Mother, I…I don't think I can do it. I need to rest some more. Please," Allura begged, feeling weaker by the moment.

"Allura, I died trying to protect you. Now you have to live to save my grandson."

"What do you mean? Mother, what's going on—"

The Princess felt panic work its way from her chest to her throat, the tightness threatening her ability to breathe. Her fingers clenched onto her bedsheets as the lights of the room took on a reddish hue and the room grew chilly; her body shuddered involuntarily at the sudden drop in temperature.

"What's happening Mother?"

Allura turned her head to the direction where the Queen had been standing, only now there was a white lion. She tried to scream but the only thing to escape her was a small squeak. Her legs were heavy and refused to move her to safety, her arms useless to protect her.

 _And that pain. That horrible, stabbing pain._

The lion opened its jaws, revealing teeth that could slice her in half. Her eyes widened in terror as the creature closed in on her.

 _Keith, help me!_

Wait, who was she crying out to? Why wasn't she calling for her father, or a castle guard? Surely someone would have come to check on her by now. Where was everyone?

Nothing seemed normal now; nothing seemed real.

Just then the white lion roared, and as it did so a light radiated from its mouth. Cracks formed on the walls of her room sending bits of debris raining down around her. Within the fissures was a familiar yellow radiance.

"Quintessence," she whispered.

She hesitantly reached for one of the breaches, brushing her fingers over the opening. The warm tingling feeling it emitted was soothing, and soon she felt the pain in her abdomen subside. Quietly the lion approached her, placing its head on the bed near her belly while letting out a gentle purr. Allura ran her fingers through the mane, the strands feeling familiar to the touch.

 _Like mother's hair._

For a moment Allura felt drawn back into sleep, the nostalgic warmth and comfort tempting her to close her eyes. But a rapping soon began to pound in her head- _tap tap tap_ \- three even beats then a rest. The repetitiveness was grating, the sound growing progressively louder.

It was knocking.

"Go away! I'm exhausted, let me rest!"

Whoever it was could wait until later. She was comfortable there, her mother next to her. No, the lion next to her. Her mother had left her alone. Alone with a lion in an icy, crumbling room. Allura was alone and wondered where everyone had gone.

Why was she having trouble remembering? What was that needling thought that something was amiss?

"Mother come back!" She screamed this but there was no sound.

Only the rapping.

Three knocks, then a rest.

"Allura! Can you hear me?"

That voice. A man's voice. Not her father's deep timbre, no, although familiar. Definitely concerned.

She wanted to reply, to comfort whoever was on the other side of the door.

 _I'm okay. We're okay_.

Wait, we? Who else besides her mother she supposed, but her mother wasn't here.

No, someone else. Didn't her mother say something? What was it? _Who_ was it?

"Allura, please! Open the hatch, I need to get you out of here," the voice plead even louder than before.

 _He's desperate_.

Now every atom in her was begging her to open the door, to let herself be saved. To let them both be saved? The room looked normal again, so it wasn't a risk to her, and the lion was sleeping soundly. Surely the danger had passed.

An explosion from the hallway shook the room violently, flipping her over and nearly knocking her out of the bed. As she felt around for the lamp on the nightstand Allura noticed a flashing button. Without thinking she reached over and pressed it; a loud hissing noise drew her attention to the door as it started to open.

The figure in the doorway moved quickly to her side, still indiscernible features lurking in the far corner of her eye. She blinked in an attempt to draw them into focus.

"Team I'm in; she's unconscious but okay," the voice called to the abyss.

Strong arms lifted her towards the phantom, cradling her like a small, helpless baby.

 _Grandson, that was what she said. Daniel!_

Gods, how did she forget that? What mother forgets her own child?

What wife forgets her own husband?

Finally, she could see him. The cold from his armor seeped through her gloves to her fingers- which meant he'd been floating in space longer than was safe- yet he looked at her with the warmth of a thousand stars.

"Keith, you found us," she murmured, her voice cracking with relief.

"You led me to you," he replied, smiling.

As reality began to reform around her she squirmed from his arms to face the scene before them. Five lions zooming around the cube, firing while dodging return fire at the same time. This battle was going to prove difficult.

"What do we do," she pondered before the understanding kicked in. "Wait, who's piloting Black?"

"Shiro and Romelle, I'm your co-pilot for the day," he said, bowing deeply. "What is your command?"

Still in a sleep fog Allura struggled to respond, unsure what to do next.

"We need to form Voltron, but then what?"

"Let's see what happens then make a decision, sound good?"

The Princess nodded, hoping the White Lion would know what to do instinctively.

"Okay team, it's time to form Voltron!"

"Princess, you're okay," cheered Shay, the other paladins chiming in with excitement.

Upon hearing the Balmeran's voice Allura shot a curious glance over to Keith, who shrugged as he laughed. She'd just have to go with it this time.

Soon the lions were flying in formation, a familiar rainbow trailing them as the five moved to become one. Taking their respective seats, the two eagerly raced to join the others. They watched in wonder as the White Lion was pulled towards Black, arms and legs drawing up to situate itself between the wings, tail wrapping around the right shoulder like a strap.

"Um, why does Voltron have a backpack?"

"Lance, I think it's a quiver," Pidge responded. "The Princess' bayard is a bow, remember?"

"Does that mean you'll always have our back?" quipped Hunk, laughing at his own terrible joke.

"How are we supposed to do anything from here," Allura pondered. "This is no help at all!"

Just then the orbs that straddled the co-pilots chair began to beam yellow, not unlike the quintessence in her dream.

Shiro's voice broke the silence. "Is everyone seeing this?"

"You mean the glowy thingies, right?" Pidge answered uncharacteristically.

Soon the White Lion's dash lifted to expose the slot for Allura's bayard.

"Paladins, I think I know what it needs us to do," she called as she inserted it.

Immediately their window blacked out, replaced by the screen from the Black Lion's cockpit. They had a perfect view of Red, which was now holding a crossbow.

"Everyone, hands on! This won't be easy, and we'll likely get only one shot, so let's make it count," the Princess commanded. On her order, the copilots placed their palms on the orbs; the giant robot began to vibrate, then an arrow of golden light appeared in the crossbow.

"Target locked," responded Nanny.

"Fire!" Allura held her breath as she watched the arrow race to its target.

Seconds later the cube was struck by the arrow, sending blazing yellow streams around and through it. In a shower of golden sparks the giant block broke into tens of smaller boxes, then into hundreds, then thousands, until only the most basic atomic structures existed, invisible to the naked eye. Now the only thing remaining was a blindingly bright silhouette, which looked to be something between a ghost and an angel.

"Is that… Haggar?"

Allura looked to Keith, wanting to give him an answer but unsure she knew it herself.

"Let's move in closer to see," she suggested.

Keith shook his head. "Not if she's still a danger to us. Let me take a closer look."

As he moved to exit the cockpit Allura reached for his hand. "You've been out there long enough, my love."

"Captain," Nanny's voice echoed over the radio, "permission to take a spacewalk, sir."

Allura tightened her grip on his wrist. She knew she couldn't make him stay any more than he could her, still she had to try.

"Please, I need to see her. Let me say goodbye," Keith implored, his eyes wet with tears. Then he paused, reconsidering. "No, let me say hello."

For better or for worse the witch was his grandmother. If these were her last moments Allura would be loath to keep him from her.

Finally, she released her grasp, offering a small nod so he would know she was okay letting him go.

Moments later she watched as Keith and Nanny flew towards the witch, approaching her cautiously and stopping slightly further than an arm's reach away. Keith had switched channels to prevent anyone else from hearing the conversation as this was strictly between family. All the Princess could do at this point was to observe the proceedings from a distance and race to help them should their safety be threatened.

The paladins watched as the Captain and his mother remained near the apparition, only leaving once her spirit had faded into nothing more than a memory. Voltron dismantled into the six lions once again to return to the castle and leave the area. Chances were good that Zarkon would be coming for his most trusted advisor soon enough. Another battle could have proven disastrous for the exhausted teammates.

As soon as they had exited the lion and discarded their armor, Keith scooped Allura up and started to make his way down the hall to the medical bay.

"I can walk, thank you."

"Like hell you will. You need to learn when to ask for help, you know."

"You're one to talk," she grumbled under her breath.

Frustrated but unable to wrestle free, she decided to give him the silent treatment the rest of the way. Not that it seemed to bother him, his steely glare focusing straight down the hall.

Allura's frustration began to wane as his warmth radiated over her, reminding her how chilled he felt from the vacuum of space. He had every right to be angry with her and it broke her heart thinking how he felt watching her vanish through a wormhole. How frightened he must have been not knowing where she was.

She herself had been scared. Terrified to be honest. She was far from the team, far from the castle.

 _Far from him._

The checkup showed that everything was fine.

It shouldn't have been. The White Lion had taken a direct hit from the cube, pure negative quintessence that should have killed her. The pain she felt was the baby struggling as Allura's body was beginning to shut down.

Vitals recorded by her suit indicated that the Princess was as good as dead.

"I can't explain it. It's like your body somehow repaired itself. Really this defies all logic," Coran explained, twirling his moustache as he pondered the implications.

"Mother saved me," Allura replied.

She knew it sounded incomprehensible. She wasn't even sure she believed her own assertion. Judging the looks she was getting from Keith and Coran, neither of them thought she was speaking coherently.

"And you think that because…" Keith cocked his head to the side as he tried to steer her towards an explanation.

"I had a vision. Mother was there. There was a white lion, then the walls were oozing quintessence. Then—" She stopped short, recalling exactly what woke her from her dreamscape.

"Then what?" Keith's tone softened as his eyes met hers, likely knowing what she'd say next.

"Then I heard you knocking," she replied softly, her heart beating faster at the memory. "You brought me back."

"I always will," he promised, placing a chaste kiss on her lips.

Of course he would, she was foolish to ever doubt it. This was a man who would move the heavens to find her. This was a man she would move the heavens to find.

She couldn't picture one of them without the other. She never wanted to.

Keith reached to brush an errant swatch of hair from her face. "Let's get you to bed, you must be exhausted."

"Will you be joining me? You know I have a tough time sleeping alone."

"I'll stay with you until you fall asleep. Then we're going back to the prison. I need to have a talk with Lotor."

"Are you going to tell me what happened out there? With Haggar?"

The expression on his face told her he didn't want to talk about it yet, but she also knew time was of the essence.

"I'll tell you the whole story later, but let's just say that we may be able to get Commander Holt back with Lotor's help."

"How will we do that?"

"By giving him what he wants."

Allura shot him a look, "Not everything, I hope."

"Not you," he chuckled. "Until death do us part, remember?"


	25. Chapter 25

**The Alliance**

Keith was not excited about his next assignment. He knew there was a good chance that Lotor would spit in his face, but for the sake of the mission he would go. If the Prince could help them end this war and save Commander Holt, then Keith had no other choice.

That and, despite how much he hated Lotor, it was only right that his enemy learned the fate of his mother from the man who played a part in her death.

Once they arrived at the damaged prison Nanny led them to Lotor's cell. What Keith had expected was an angry greeting; what he got was cold silence. The captive Galra leader sat on a low bed, chin propped up by his clasped hands and a wicked grin on his face. He looked every bit the typical movie villain.

From his vantage point the Captain could see where repairs had been done, meaning Lotor was aware his mother had escaped. He would also be aware that she'd abandoned him yet again.

"I see you survived the full force of my father's anger. However, it appears you did not successfully capture Haggar so you're obviously here to use me as bait," he sneered, not bothering to look up to make eye contact with his visitors.

Nanny knelt to his eye level, forcing herself into his field of vision. "Our mother is dead, Lotor. She won't be coming back for you. I'm…I'm sorry."

Keith could tell his mother was holding back tears. As rough as their relationship had been he knew that she couldn't hate Haggar completely. He squatted beside her, draping his arm across her shoulders. For the first time he felt a pang of empathy for Lotor, imagining he'd never had this close a relationship with his mother.

The Prince chuckled to himself, his head falling back to rest against the wall. "I don't suppose you have any proof of this. Why should I believe anything you say?"

"Because she asked us to tell you that she's sorry. For everything. For her cruelty, her absence, everything. She said she should have listened to you when you begged her to stop."

Lotor tilted his head forward, his eyebrow raised. "When I begged her to stop what?"

"To stop the war, to stop hurting people. To stop hurting Allura."

At these words Lotor jumped to his feet, rushing the cell door. His face was a mix of anger and sadness, his fists clenching the bars tightly. Keith found it was hard to look at him, guilt bubbling up towards the surface. They may be enemies but they were also family.

"I'm sorry," Keith mumbled, trying to sound sincere. "We didn't intend for her to die. The quintessence—"

"Wait, did you use pure quintessence on her?" Lotor asked, his face going pale.

"Lotor, we had to stop her. More people could have died. Allura almost did," Nanny interjected. "Keith almost lost her _and_ the baby."

Hearing that the Princess was in grave danger changed Lotor's demeanor. His shoulders slumped and his knees gave out, dropping him to the floor. Keith wondered if the son of the cruelest man in the universe had a heart after all. Maybe he truly loved Allura.

Keith knelt to face him again, hoping to reach some part of Lotor that was good. Haggar had managed to push that part of herself so far down only pure quintessence could free it. Hopefully Lotor's was closer to the surface.

"She cared for you, didn't she? Maybe her methods were wrong, but at the end of all of this she loved you. Don't let that part of her be forgotten."

Lotor sighed heavily, seemingly torn between the mother he had and the mother he wanted.

"My mother was tainted by my father's lust for power. None of this should have happened. I just wanted to marry Allura and be happy, not rule the universe."

The weight of his confession hung heavy in the air. Keith hesitated to respond although he burned to assert his place at Allura's side. Despite that he wanted to make peace with Lotor if possible, to allow him some of the freedom he was never granted as the son of a tyrant.

"Lotor, if you help us defeat your father we can make a deal with you. I'm not giving you my wife, to be certain; however, I am willing to let you start over."

The three spent the next hour discussing the terms of the agreement, occasionally conferencing Coran and Allura into the talks. Lotor would be allowed to rule one planet of Galra, with only a small military force for protection. Voltron would help to defend them from anyone looking to seek revenge for Zarkon's cruelty. Trade with New Altea would help jump-start the economy; the Olkari would assist with building new industries and retraining soldiers for civilian jobs.

By the time Keith returned to the castle he was physically as well as mentally exhausted. He headed to the bedroom for a short nap, only to find the bed already occupied by his sleeping princess.

Earlier he'd been hesitant to leave her after he just got her back, especially after learning the extent of her injuries. She looked perfectly fine now; her skin undamaged, her breathing normal. The quintessence had even healed some of her old scars from long-past battles.

Keith quietly removed his shirt, sliding gently into the bed behind Allura. The smell and warmth of her was intoxicating, tempting him to press his body as close to hers as he could. He wrapped himself around her, allowing his hand to rest on her protruding belly. This was his favorite thing now, playing with Daniel as the baby squirmed and pushed against Keith's hand.

Lotor's plan had better work, he thought. His son was growing faster than before and likely would be born on the battlefield if nothing changed. After speaking with the Prince directly he knew the toll that could take on a child.

He drifted off trying to imagine a better life for his son, where his biggest worry would be scraped elbows and bruised knees. Where injuries only require a kiss from mom to feel better.

When he woke Allura was turned to face him, a tender smile on her lips. She looked tired despite having just slept, and he imagined it must be hard for her to rest comfortably in her condition. Tempted as he was to suggest she spend time in the healing pods for some relief he knew she'd refuse outright. She was determined to help end this war, too.

Soon it was dinner time and the two made their way to the dining hall. The chairs were full but the room lay silent. Everyone knew what was coming and none of them were ready to discuss the reality they were facing, nor were they relaxed enough to engage in their usual banter. The sound of utensils scraping against plates only served to put everyone further on edge.

Coran's voice cut through the silence as some of the team members began to excuse themselves from the room. "Everyone, we'll be meeting with the Olkari in two varga. Please make your way to the control room by then."

Heads nodded in understanding. Pidge and Lance made their way to the lounge with Hunk and Shay. Romelle walked Allura back to her room to rest. Anton hung back to help Coran clear the dishes. The rest scattered to other parts of the castle.

Shiro approached Keith, resting his hand on his friend's shoulder. "How about hitting the training deck? I don't know about you but I could use the distraction."

Keith agreed, knowing it was best to work out his frustrations before the meeting. Plus, he could discuss plans with Shiro without input from the rest of the team. The conversation with Lotor conveniently left out the new lion and Voltron's upgraded capabilities. He wasn't sure how those would fit into the plans, or even if they would fit.

While waiting for the systems to fully boot up the two men changed into their paladin armor. Mostly to prevent injuries but also because they both worried that they could be called to fly into battle at any moment. Keith stood just outside the door of the dressing area while waiting for Shiro to finish getting ready.

"So," Keith wondered aloud, "what are you planning to do if this mission succeeds? Will you stay on at the castle, or will you go back to Earth?"

"I haven't had a chance to decide." Shiro responded thoughtfully. "It really depends on Romelle's preference."

Keith knew there was something more to this. Shiro didn't have family back on Earth so he wasn't sure why he'd go back unless it was Garrison related. The fact that Romelle was mentioned meant that he'd follow her most likely.

"Does that mean Romelle is okay with you tagging along?" Keith teased.

"Let's hope so, or else me proposing to her will be pointless."

Shiro emerged from the dressing area as he said it, the look on his face half concerned and half serene. As much as Keith would enjoy taking more jabs at his old friend, he decided to offer support instead.

"She'll say yes, don't worry about that," he offered, nodding for emphasis.

The two sparred for roughly an hour, stopping once they'd finished all the levels. Keith quickly changed without bothering to shower, wanting to get back to his wife as soon as possible. He probably didn't smell nice, though, and he was hoping Allura was either asleep or wearing a nose plug. Pregnancy had only enhanced her senses, therefore he felt it wise not to offend any of them.

He was surprised to find Allura sitting in her lounge chair, reading a report on her tablet. She was so distracted she didn't look up when he entered the room, only acknowledging him after he leaned in for a kiss. The look in her eyes concerned him, fogged over with sadness and exhaustion.

They hadn't spoken in length since their return. Keith didn't know what to say, truth be told. His anger at her recklessness had long subsided, overridden by fear and then relief. As the Black Paladin he should chastise her, but his heart wasn't in it.

When he was training at the Garrison nothing distracted him from the mission. With her that had all changed. As hard as he'd tried to separate his feelings for her from the team's objective, he found himself failing more the longer he loved her.

He decided to shelve the speech for another day. "How are you feeling?" he asked, trying to sound less concerned than he was.

Allura furrowed her brow as she looked back to the pad, seemingly unsure how to answer him. "I feel better, just trying to review the plans for the battle—"

Keith pushed the tablet down gently, forcing her to look up at him. "No, how are you _feeling_? What's going through that head of yours? Something is bothering you and it's not on this screen."

He knew he'd guessed correctly when Allura's eyes began to well with tears. He sat on the edge of the chaise and pulled her into his arms, rubbing circles on her back while rocking her gently. The tune he hummed was one his dad used to sing when Keith was having a tough day.

Chances were that she was as worried as he, afraid this plan might fail like the last one. Zarkon could survive and continue to terrorize the universe. They could lose Shiro again, or Black Lion could finally be taken. Certainly, there would be almost no chance of everyone surviving. Battles of this magnitude brought casualties, no matter what.

 _Allura could die._

Keith shook his head, trying to rid it of such an obscene thought. The White Lion had saved her once, surely it would do so again. He'd keep her away from the fighting for as long as possible. But could he be _with_ her? Even though he had during the last battle this one would require him to be in the Black Lion.

"Keith?"

"Yes?"

"Can you stop swaying? I think I'm going to be sick if you don't."

He chuckled at this, knowing she was probably half-serious. She leaned back, her hand reaching to brush the hair from his eyes.

"Kiss me again," she asked, smiling tenderly at him.

"As my lady wishes," he responded, leaning in to claim her lips.

There would never be a time in his life that he wouldn't want this. The two of them, desperately clinging to each other, renewing their promise of forever.


	26. Chapter 26

The Finale

Allura left the final planning meeting quickly, hoping no one noticed her discomfort. Keith had already drawn up several scenarios that would leave her out of this final battle should she be unable to fight. If he saw her clutching her stomach or wincing at the sharp pains he'd certainly refuse to let her participate.

They'd reach their destination within a varga, so this was no time to distract the rest of the team.

The plan was multi-layered, with many moving parts. A kink in any one of them meant certain failure. There were too many lives on the line, too many futures at stake. Allura just had to be sure to do her part. She wasn't integral to the initial strike at least, her lion coming in towards the end of the battle. That didn't make her happy, though, as she hated to be away from the team.

 _No, she hated being away from Keith_.

A final check of the castle systems confirmed the readiness of the defenses. Confirmation of Lotor's transfer had been received with all teams on standby. This was the moment the Alliance had worked so hard towards, and everyone was anxious to get started.

The Princess watched as Hunk, Pidge and Matt ran last minute diagnostics on the lions' upgraded systems. Keith and Shiro were keeping a close eye on Galra movement, trying to discern if Zarkon had caught whiff of their plan. In the meantime, Lance helped Coran to prep the medical ward. Casualties were to be expected in such a large campaign, but the Voltron team could not afford any losses.

Allura decided to wait it out in her room, hoping that even a few dobashes of rest could help ease the spasms. She had begun to sweat a bit, her head feeling foggy. At this rate she might spend her last moments on the ship in the bathroom.

She sighed dejectedly. If she were to die in battle she would not want her final thoughts to be of hovering over a toilet.

As she opened the door to her room, she heard light footsteps approach from behind.

"Romelle," she greeted her friend as she spun around, "I was just going to...um, what's wrong?"

The Princess was surprised to see her friend crying, although she didn't seem distressed in the slightest. In fact, she was smiling through the tears. Allura could only guess that the tension they'd all carried the last two weeks had completely overwhelmed her.

After a moment of laughing through hiccups, Romelle threw her arms around the pregnant paladin, swaying them side to side in a rather jerky movement. Allura finally pried herself loose, placing her hands on Romelle's shoulders to steady her.

Allura looked her in the eye, waiting for her breathing to calm before asking again. "Okay, now tell me what's going on. Why are you crying?"

In response her fellow Altean laughed and held up her left hand. On it was a ring with a beautiful jewel that sparkled a deep purple. Allura's eyes grew wide at the implication, an emphatic nod from Romelle confirming her suspicions. Although Keith had gone with a tradition from her old culture, he had explained that Earth couples exchanged rings as a sign of bonding.

"Wait, did he?"

Romelle beamed, waving her hands wildly in excitement. "We're getting married!" she exclaimed, bouncing up and down as she spoke.

Allura couldn't help but smile at the joy exuding from her close friend. Grabbing her into a tight hug, she offered her congratulations several times and even shed a tear or two herself. While it was mostly happy crying, she couldn't help but worry that it could all be for nothing.

She berated herself for such negative thoughts, and quickly tried to refocus. "Let's go tell the others! Everyone will be so happy for the two of you!"

Taking Romelle's hand, the two women happily made their way back to the control room. Allura noted as they walked that her pain had subsided. It seemed that perhaps stress had caused it and now that she was relaxed it had disappeared. She breathed a sigh of relief as they walked into the bridge but her relief seemed premature, especially when Keith looked at her with a single raised eyebrow.

 _So much for that._

Once Shiro and Romelle made their announcement and the congratulatory hugs were shared, Allura decided it was time to retreat. Slowly backing away from the group, she turned on her heel to head for the door. She didn't make it one step before a firm hand grabbed her wrist, freezing her in her tracks.

She didn't even have to look to know whose hand it was. The hand slid down to take hers, weaving fingers tightly together. Allura tugged it towards her, pulling them both into the hallway.

Before she could speak Keith had spun her around; his hands grasped her shoulders while his eyes scanned her face for answers. Her husband was good at sussing out her problems, sometimes before she even knew she had them. Hopefully he would write her concern off as pre-battle jitters.

Once he seemed content that she wasn't hiding anything from him, he smiled at her with a kind of sadness that pricked at her heart. This fight they could not be together and it was hell for both of them. The last few nights they'd slept somewhat restlessly, constantly waking in a cold sweat and unable to relax until they spotted the other.

The worst of it came when Keith woke up while Allura was in the bathroom. She heard him trip and fall over the bedsheets as he scrambled to find her. The next morning the Princess awoke to find him sleeping the same way he had fallen asleep the night before, arms wound tightly around her and his face buried in her hair.

To be honest, it was probably the reason she had slept as well as she did.

"We- we should probably get to our lions now," he suggested, his voice barely audible. Still, she was able to note it was trembling.

"Yes, it's almost time. We should be hearing from the others soon."

"I love you, Allura. Be careful out there, okay?"

"I love you too. Please be safe as well," she answered, nuzzling his cheek with her nose.

At that the Captain smiled more brightly, resting his hand on her belly before leaning over to kiss it gently. As he stood he reached to cup her cheek, pulling her into a much more passionate kiss.

They'd kissed hundreds- no thousands- of times before. This time, however, felt like the culmination of their lifetimes together. Allura was keenly aware of her own heartbeat, the rush of the blood moving through her veins. Her nails dug into his arms as she attempted to delay the inevitable.

If this were to be their last embrace then she would secure the memory away, etching it into her soul.

Finally they pulled away from one another, this time unable to look each other in the eye.

Keith took her hand as they began the long journey to Black's hangar, Allura now unable use the zipline system. Not that she was complaining; the walk gave them that much more time together in the quiet of the castle. As they passed their bedroom the urge to drag him in and cocoon themselves away grew stronger.

This wasn't her. This was the pregnancy talking. She needed to do this for the sake of their son. For the sake of the universe.

Once they reached the hangar they were greeted by Shiro and Romelle, who had obviously chosen to take the quicker route. Both of them were more solemn than before, their joy from earlier leaving only a trace in their smiles.

Romelle would stay behind with Allura until needed, while Shiro would co-pilot Black. Keith felt that having two full Alteans flying White would make it that much more powerful. Plus it was easier for Keith to lead the team from the head of Voltron as he had a better view of the front line.

This time the goodbyes were short and sweet. Dragging them out would not have helped anyone, since no one really wanted to go.

Once the other paladins had confirmed their readiness, Keith radioed the Blade to verify their location. Kolivan's team was joining Earth's Vehicle Voltron, which had just left their temporary base on Mars. The plan was to rendezvous near the prison of Jupiter- which they learned was hidden in the giant planet's gas clouds- once the other battles were underway. The Blade would clear the prison before the Earth team boarded it.

Pidge and Matt had been surprised to learn how close their father had been to home this whole time. According to Lotor, the prison was originally built for Slav and it was the ship carrying him that had discovered Shiro's team en route to the base. Mr. Holt was taken there once they realized his value as a scientist.

If all went to plan the Alliance would walk away victorious, and two of their teammates would mend their broken family.

 _Before_ that was going to be the most difficult part, however. Coran would wormhole the castle right into Zarkon's backyard. Lotor had informed them that his main ship had taken up residence where Daibazaal used to be. He'd referred to it as "hiding in plain sight" as there were no nearby planets to shield his fleet.

Zarkon had supposedly chosen the location as he was certain it was a place Allura would avoid at all costs. And as much as she hated to admit it, he was right. Going back there was the last thing she ever wanted to do.

While Voltron was attacking the Galra base, Prince Bandor would lead his and other alliance units to conquer and infiltrate Planet Doom. Zarkon would believe that they were looking for Pidge's father, Commander Holt, at the slave prison. That would allow the Earth's Voltron team to free him with little chance of interference.

"Okay team, does everyone know what to do once we exit the wormhole?"

One by one the paladins called out in the affirmative.

The lions' eyes lit up as they waited anxiously for their pilots to lead them into battle. If any one of them sensed uneasiness from their chosen paladins they offered no signs of it. Allura felt a wave of calm confidence from her lion, and she allowed it to wash over her. Focus was important now, and any trepidation she felt would be a distraction.

Too soon, Coran's voice called out over the radio. "Okay guys, we're exiting the wormhole in 3...2...1…"

Keith cut in quickly, "Team Voltron is a go. Red, Green, Blue, Yellow, and Black taking off."

Suddenly the sound of metal against metal reverberated through the bay as the black lion raced towards the exit. As it swooped into the darkened pool of space, Allura felt her heart drop. Keith was the best pilot on the team, of that there was no doubt. Still, in war even the most skilled warriors can fall.

For now all Allura could do was listen and watch. As badly as she wanted to be out fighting with the other paladins, she knew that would prove too big a distraction. She pulled the communications screen up on the control panel near the doorway, hoping to keep track of everything that was going on.

The Voltron force had engaged Zarkon's warships, circling the base with the lions and working their way inward. It seemed that the Emperor had been taken by surprise, given the sluggish initial response they'd met. However, as the fight progressed more ships arrived to fill the vacancies left by the ones they had destroyed.

Bandor's troops were facing fierce resistance from a larger-than-expected fleet of ships around Planet Doom. Allura secretly worried that their ships may be overwhelmed; by the look of the frown drawn across Romelle's face she knew the other Princess was also worried for her brother and her people. This was their first large-scale offensive battle, so Bandor's inexperience could make him less effective when calling the shots.

One consolation was the repaired teleduv that was hidden behind a nearby moon, which would allow a hasty retreat should the need arise. The young Prince may have till been learning, but his capabilities as an Altean were impressive. There was no doubt he could maneuver the rebel alliance safely away.

After the two battles were well underway, Coran hailed the Earth Vehicle Force to alert them. The Commander of the team, Jeff, acknowledged clearance and began the assault on the prison on Jupiter. Allura was pleased with how professional the pilots of the team sounded, nothing like the young pilots who stumbled upon her castle on Arus so long ago.

"All ships are cleared; preparing away team to board the prison," she heard Jeff's voice over the comms. Only five of the fifteen team members would board, the rest remaining in their vehicles in case Galra backup arrived. Lotor, now in their custody, would accompany that team. Once Sam Holt was recovered, the Galra prince would remain at the prison until after the battle had been decided.

In the meantime he'd serve as an insurance policy as well as help get them through the security systems quickly.

"Allura, do you read me?" Keith's voice rang out over the radio.

"Affirmative, are you ready for us?"

She hadn't realized how anxious she was to join them until now, her fists clenched so tightly her nails had left marks on her palms. Once she received the okay, she and Romelle raced to White's cockpit. Allura felt a bit winded and hoped she had the stamina to keep up with the others. She closed her eyes tightly as she gripped the controls, trying to channel all of her energy into her lion.

The second she reopened them the lion roared, ready to chase the streaks of light now forming Voltron.

No matter how many times she had witnessed it, the scene never failed to awe her. Giant metal cats folding and twisting to come together as one. Each whir of gears, each clash of metal, each crackle of electricity. They were all so powerful in themselves, feeding her courage as they carried on. The bond between man and machine culminated in this giant robot.

As Voltron finished assembling she felt the pull that would bring her to her lion's position between the broad shoulders of Voltron. Once locked in she was finally able to see what the team was seeing, and why she had been called sooner than anticipated.

Before them was Zarkon, his rebuilt exoskeleton looming large as he emerged from the space station. Allura swallowed dryly as she noticed it was glowing with dark quintessence. Even though Haggar was dead they obviously still had large stores of the deadly energy. The Princess wondered if the druids aboard the base were capable of sending out a blast that could incapacitate Voltron like before.

She didn't have much time to consider this as Keith called for the team to launch an attack. First they used the blue lion's sniper gun, hoping to get in a shot from long range. Avoiding close combat was necessary to buy time for the other teams. Making sure Commander Holt was safe with the Earth Voltron force was the first order of business.

Zarkon was moving slower than before, either from his old injuries or from the bulk of the larger suit. Perhaps both. The first shot managed to hit the armor although it seemed to do little damage. Two additional shots barely missed, and soon they realized that the rifle was not going to be effective against him. Quickly they switched to Hunk's bayard, multiple shots peppering the Emperor with bolts of light.

The team waited for the light to dissipate before easing forward for a closer look. There was an audible gasp as the paladins realized the armor had taken no damage. This was going to be far more difficult than they'd imagined.

Just then Voltron shuddered with the impact of a laser blast. More ships had arrived and were now engaging the mighty robot.

"Coran, have we heard from the Doom or Jupiter teams? We need to end this battle soon!" Keith sounded steady but Allura knew he was struggling to hold his emotions in check. The hit had landed near her lion and she was certain he was afraid for her.

"Hailing the teams now, Keith," Coran replied, his own fears evident in the raised pitch of his voice.

The Captain continued to fire several volleys at the fleet as he waited for a response. Soon the voice of Prince Bandor provided some welcome news.

"Voltron Force, Planet Doom has been liberated. Prisoners are boarding ships and will be relocated immediately," he relayed proudly. "Do you need backup?"

"Stand by all forces until evacuations are complete," Shiro ordered. "We can hold them off for now."

Allura secretly wondered if that was the case. Even with Bandor's ships and help from Earth Voltron it seemed to be an insurmountable fight. Their only hope for now lay with the White Lion, but that couldn't be used until the last moment and it still might not be enough.

"Voltron Force, this is Commander Jeff of the Vehicle Voltron team. Do you read me?"

Pidge responded before Keith had the chance. "Affirmative. Do you have my father with you?" she asked anxiously.

"We've arrived and our away team is in the process of boarding the prison. Lotor is accompanying them into the station. There's been little in the way of resistance so we're hoping for an easy extraction."

As relieved as they were, the paladins had little time to feel the slightest bit of reprieve. They took several more hits before being able to fire off more shots at the growing fleet of ships surrounding them. In the meantime Zarkon was attempting to do some damage with his personal weaponry. Black bolts of light bounced off Green's shield, which took heavy damage as a result.

"Guys, we need to kill two birds with one stone," Pidge called out. "I have an idea. Hunk, put away your bayard for now."

Hunk hesitated, unsure what to do. "Uh, Keith? Are there any weapons I don't know about?"

"I think we should trust her, guys," Matt interjected.

"Okay, let's see what our resident genius has up her sleeve."

With that the Green Lion produced a grappling hook. Allura smiled when she realized what the youngest paladin had up her sleeve. With a single shot Pidge caught Zarkon's robotic suit by the ankle. Voltron swung wide, making a complete circle as it crashed the Galra leader into several ships, leaving them severely damaged and Zarkon temporarily disabled. With his inability to move, now was the perfect time to strike.

Pidge pulled her bayard out and Allura inserted hers, turning it to produce the crossbow. She lined up the sight so that one arrow could finish the evil dictator off. They just needed the green light from the Jupiter team and it would be over.

"Away team to Voltron Force." Allura looked to the screen on her right to see the familiar face of Commander Holt next to one of the Earth pilots.

"Dad!" Pidge shouted, echoed by her older brother. "Dad, it's me, Katie!"

"And me!" added Matt, squeezing himself into view.

The Commander looked at them with a weak smile. "Oh, thank the stars you're both safe!" He paused for a moment, a look of confusion on his face. "Wait, where are you?"

Everyone laughed as Pidge excitedly told him she was part of the team defending the universe. Her dad nodded calmly although the information seemed a bit overwhelming to him.

"We rescued a second prisoner," the Earth pilot continued, turning the camera to show a second man kneeling on the floor.

* * *

"Daniel?" whispered Nanny, sounding confused if not a bit elated.

Keith stared at the man on the screen, nearly unrecognizable under a scraggly beard and greying hair. "Dad?" he managed to say, the word barely audible even to himself.

"This man was also being held here so we're bringing him back as well," continued the away team leader. "We're leaving the base now."

Keith nodded and returned his attention to Zarkon, who was still floating unconscious. "We'll be done here shortly. One last piece of trash to take out."

He looked back to the screen briefly, his stomach in a knot as he gripped the controls tighter than necessary. The man- his father- was a shadow of the person he remembered. His dad was thinner, his face sunken and his eyes unfocused. Keith clenched his jaw at the sight, wondering what damage had been done to him.

"Target locked, ready to fire," he heard Allura say, barely registering the implication.

"Launch on my command. Three….two…."

Before he could finish the count there was a loud noise followed by several screams. It took a second before he realized it was coming from the screen. There was a scuffle going on but he couldn't see who it involved.

Suddenly Lotor appeared on the screen, a gun in his right hand and Commander Holt wrapped up in his left arm.

"We have a man down!" he heard the lead pilot shout, and Keith saw a body on the floor behind them.

"If you kill my father I will kill yours," Lotor snarled, looking directly at the younger Holts. Then, turning to Keith he added, "Yours too."

"No!" Pidge shouted, "Let him go!"

"We have to do this, if we don't Zarkon will kill even more people," Allura countered.

Keith knew it was not an easy thing for her to say, having dealt with the loss of her own father. Still, he never expected to end up in this situation, having to decide whether he could ever see his own father again. He'd be lying if he said it wasn't tempting to just walk away.

As he listened to Pidge and Matt's pleas for mercy, Nanny spoke once again.

"Son, I know how you feel, and I understand what you want to do. But we've come to far to give up now. Please, let's finish this. Remember who you are, and make him proud of you."

As he pondered her words, Keith realized he'd been crying. His vision had blurred with tears making it difficult to determine what was in front of him any more. It wasn't until Hunk piped up that he understood what was happening.

"Uh, guys. I think Zarkon's coming to," the yellow paladin started. "And he's coming right for us!"

At that moment Keith knew there was only one thing he could do, and he hated it. They had to end Zarkon then and there, or else risk him coming back again even stronger. Now that he was aware of the existence of the white lion it made him that much more dangerous.

With a flip of a switch the communications with the prison were cut off. If they were going to do this they could not have any distractions.

"Allura, are we still locked on?"

"Affirmative."

"Fire!"

It felt as though time froze in the short span of time it took for the projectile to reach its target. Keith was aware of the curses being heaped upon him from the cockpit of the green lion. He could only hope that there was a chance someone could save their fathers. The Earth team _was_ an elite force after all.

"You got him!" Coran's voice cheered over the comms, somewhat hesitant in his jubilation.

The paladins watched as the light surrounded him, not unlike it had done with the witch Haggar before. This time, however, the light sputtered as the dark quintessence swallowed it whole. Keith's heart sunk as he realized that this battle was not going to end the way they wanted it to.

"Allura, get out of here," he demanded. His entire body trembled as he tried to figure out the next move.

"I'm not leaving you," the Princess responded, her voice as firm as usual. If she had any fear there was no hint of it in her tone.

"Why didn't it work?" questioned Lance. "It worked fine last time."

Keith pondered for a moment when it struck him.

"We weren't working together, that's why. Pidge, Matt, I know you want to save your father. I want to save mine, too. But not at the expense of the universe."

"Why can't we-" Pidge started before Matt cut her off.

"He's right, Katie. Like he said before, Dad wouldn't want us to get hurt for his sake. The same goes for all the planets we're protecting."

Keith watched the other paladins nod in agreement. Everyone now had a fierce determination in their faces that gave him the confidence to try again. They locked back onto their target and once again produced the glowing arrow.

"Guys, wait a moment" Coran interrupted. "We've got backup coming in."

Suddenly the sky was littered with small wormholes. Keith was confused as none of them were big enough to fit a warship, though. Soon a beam of light emerged from each portal, enveloping Voltron with quintessence.

"I was afraid we may have some trouble," Coran started, "so I've been in touch with planets that can manipulate quintessence. We've got a dozen or so Balmera, as well as Olkarion and New Altea, lending their support."

The surge of power running through the great robot was intense, almost crushing. The arrow of light was glowing far brighter than before as the bowstring stretched to near breaking.

"Okay team, are we ready?"

A chorus of voices proudly responded.

"Let's go Voltron!"

This arrow pierced the Emperor's armor with ease, continuing toward the colossal structure behind him. The light from the quintessence shot through the command center of the base, flowing quickly throughout the entire structure before dismantling it bit by bit. The brilliant energy flowed back out in waves, laying to waste everything in its wake.

"Form Blazing Sword!" Keith commanded, "Let's finish him off!"

Red held the blade straight forward as they charged the injured Galra commander. Nanny drove it in his chest, dragging the hilt down as Keith's bayard lit the sword's flames. Unlike the last time there was no flash of dark quintessence, just the last flicker of life leaving the Emperor's eyes. The sword dissipated, hopefully needed for the last time.

His armor completely destroyed, only the lifeless form of Zarkon was left- perhaps as evidence of his death. The Galra Empire, it seemed, was ended.

"Breathe Captain!" Shiro laughed, bringing Keith out of his stupor, "I think we can safely say it's over."

Relief washed over him as the reality began to settle in. Keith turned to look at his friend and offered a genuine smile. Now they just needed to know how the other teams were faring.

"Voltron to Prince Bandor," he radioed. As desperate as he was to know his father's fate, he was also too afraid to find out.

"This is Prince Bandor," came the response, "the prisoners have all been transported safely. We are headed to your position for assistance."

This time Romelle spoke up, seemingly aware of the paladins' desire to return home as quickly as possible. "Good, you can pick up any survivors for processing. Have the Olkari deal with Zarkon's remains for the time being."

"You- You got him?" her younger brother asked incredulously. "Are you sure?"

"You'll see when you get here," she replied, a wink in her voice. Her family had suffered so much for so long, now they could finally live without fear.

As the lions came to rest in their respective dens the castle began the jump to Jupiter. Everyone waited in their respective ships should they be needed right away.

Once they emerged, however, it was obvious that they would not have to fight.

Vehicle Voltron was already streaming towards Earth, the prison now nothing but a broken shell. The hull had been torn in half, rendered completely useless. Following the other robot closely, Keith took their urgency as a positive sign that the team had managed to escape with only injuries. He could only hope that his father and Commander Holt were as lucky.

As the giant robot neared the planet it broke up into its fifteen smaller ships that headed towards the Garrison. Keith directed Pidge and Matt to meet him in the pod hangar, where they grabbed a jump ship before streaking towards the surface as well.

The mood was tense between the three of them, nobody speaking a word. The captain worried that his actions may have opened a rift that could never be properly closed again. Still, if he had to do it again he wouldn't have done it any differently.

As soon as they landed the trio was greeted by Commander Iverson, who drove them to the base's hospital. He told them that their fathers had been brought in alive but needing immediate care. Nothing else about their condition was known at that time, unfortunately.

The paladins exchanged worried glances, each seemingly afraid to allow the slightest shred of optimism worm its way into their minds.

On arrival at the hospital they were ushered to the waiting room outside the ER. Overcome with exhaustion they each found an empty row of chairs to stretch out on, trying to get comfortable as best they could.

Keith's mind was still racing, not yet processing the events of the day properly. Had they really won? Was Zarkon really dead? They'd left the battlefield so quickly that they didn't have a chance to update Bandor's team or even ensure they were okay. He'd been in such a hurry to get to the Garrison he didn't even say anything to Allura.

And yet he felt confident that she was okay. He would more than make it up to her, maybe taking another day to sightsee around the world. No, walking would be too much for her. Maybe just a camping trip? Can you even take a pregnant woman on a camping trip? Keith shook his head at the absurdities running through his head. Tomorrow was the time to think about that, not today.

As if on cue the doors to the emergency room burst open, an older doctor in scrubs making a beeline for them. She wore no telltale expression, her poker face likely perfected by years of greeting worried families with grim news. It unsettled him as he watched her approach.

"Are you family members?" she asked in a clinical tone. As they each nodded yes she inhaled deeply, her eyes closed as she seemed to be plotting the words out in her mind.

"Can we see our dad?" Matt asked impatiently.

The doctor looked to the siblings as she exhaled sharply. "You must be Commander Holt's children. Yes, you can see him. Room 118. He's still unconscious however. He took a hit to the head-"

Pidge and Matt didn't even let her finish the statement, rushing past her into the recovery unit. She looked to Keith with slightly more sympathetic gaze, and he felt his muscles tense. It didn't do anything to calm him when she rested her hand on his shoulder.

"Your father required surgery for internal bleeding. Right now he's critical...but there is a chance he'll pull through. It's really up to him now," she finished, a small practiced smile punctuating her statement.

After the doctor walked away Keith realized that Jeff, the leader of the Vehicle Voltron team, was standing just outside the waiting room. It appeared the young man was waiting to speak with him and Keith waved him over to sit in the adjacent chair.

Jeff seemed hesitant, knowing that discussing the mission in an open area was against policy. Still he accepted the offer to take the seat and sat quietly for a moment, his knee bouncing furiously under his palm.

Keith initially wanted to let Jeff be the first to speak, but his impatience got the better of him. "What happened up there?"

"Dumb luck I suppose," the Commander laughed under his breath, as if he didn't believe it himself.

When he realized Keith wasn't going to ask for more information he decided to continue. "So Matt was working on technology to prevent the vehicles from being stolen, and he created fingerprint technology which locks them unless the authorized driver is piloting."

Keith nodded understanding, not sure what this had to do with the hostage situation that nearly derailed their plans.

"It actually worked. Really well as a matter of fact. So we decided to try it for other things," he continued, and Keith began to understand where this was going. "Our laser guns require matching thumb and index fingerprints to fire. Lotor couldn't have killed anyone with that weapon unless he beat them to death with it."

"So Commander Holt's head?"

"Once Lotor realized the weapon was useless, he pistol whipped him. Your dad tried to protect him, but was thrown into a bulkhead with quite a bit of force."

Keith cringed a bit at the very idea, imagining how badly it must have hurt.

"And Lotor?"

"He escaped in a jump ship, but not before taking a couple of hits. With nowhere to go he may not last long."

Keith hummed in approval, the idea of Lotor's life leaking slowly from his body felt like proper justice. Too many had died at the Prince's hands and the paladin never felt satisfied with a treaty that allowed him any freedom at all.

His reverie was interrupted by the sound of his name being shouted from the corridor. To his somewhat displeasure it sounded like Lance, which meant he'd either want to butt into the conversation or grill them about the health of Commander Holt. Or, as Lance referred to him, "future pops-in-law."

The two Voltron captains stood to greet him as he burst into the room, doubling over as he tried to catch his breath.

"Keith," he gasped, throwing his hand firmly onto his leader's shoulder. "You need to get back to the castle. Like, _now_!"

It took a moment for the statement to sink in, and Keith was sure his face lost all color as he registered exactly why he needed to get back quickly. He tripped over his own feet as he rushed to the helicopter pad where Lance had landed the space pod. Cursing himself for not bringing Allura with him, he wondered if the castle was even equipped for childbirth.

 _Of course it is, idiot. Altean technology is light years ahead of Earth's._

Jumping aboard, Keith took off so fast that he almost clipped an emergency chopper trying to land. He made it to the pod hangar in record time, stopping just long enough to change out of his armor. He didn't want Daniel's first impression of his father to be of a cold, hard man. No, if he could help it the boy would always have a warm, loving dad.

Something he himself had been denied.

Keith felt like his heart was going to explode by the time he reached the door of the medical bay. He'd expected to be greeted by the sounds of Coran's bustling and possibly Allura's screaming, but it was eerily quiet. No one was outside to greet him. His heart went from beating thunderously to nearly stopping. A wave of nausea threatened to send him reeling as he reached for the control pad.

The doors slid open but the room was dark. For a brief moment he wondered if he'd misinterpreted Lance's meaning, or if this was a cruel prank played by the blue paladin. Either way he wanted answers.

As he turned to exit the room he stepped straight into the chest of Hunk.

"What're you doing here? Allura's waiting for you!" Hunk yelled as he grabbed Keith's upper arm, pulling him to the elevator.

"I came here as fast as I could. Why isn't she in the medbay?"

"Ah, yeah, well," Hunk started, seemingly unsure how much he was comfortable telling Keith. "Allura kinda went into labor during the battle, but she didn't want you to know…"

Keith looked at Hunk's contorted face with amusement. Tempted as he was to tease his giant friend he decided now was not the time.

His wife needed him now. For what he wasn't sure. Most couples take classes and study books about this stuff. He wasn't even sure how to feed a baby, much less raise one. What would he do if the baby was crying? What if he dropped it?

What if he took Daniel to visit a strange planet then forgot him there because he'd never had to be responsible for another person ever?

 _Stop. Breathe. One thing at a time._

When they reached the Princess' quarters Shiro was standing outside to greet them. The wide grin on his face made Keith feel more at ease. A light knock instantly opened the door for him. Inside the room he could make out the slight frame of his wife, propped up on large pillows to almost sitting. In her arms was a blanket that shifted and cooed as she gently swayed it.

She looked up to her husband, a warm smile inviting him closer. He walked to the left side of the bed, slowly sliding himself on to sit next to Allura. Now the blanket had a small, smushed up face that stared up at him with large, blue eyes that were accented with purple Altean markings. A dark tuft of hair stuck out of the covering and without thinking Keith reached over to touch it.

It was soft, like Allura's. But the color was definitely his.

The Princess' smile widened as she greeted him. "Daddy, I'd like to introduce you to Daniel."

The baby yawned sleepily as she moved to place the infant in Keith's arms.

As nervous as he was, the new father didn't hesitate to hold his son. He was awestruck at how natural it felt, being there with his family. Allura leaned on his shoulder, exhausted from the day. Her breathing slowed as she fell asleep, and he leaned to place a chaste kiss on her head.

Nanny stepped over, gesturing that she would take the child while Keith rested. He smiled but shook his head, content to stay like that a while longer. They had finally gained the peace they'd fought so hard for, and his newborn son would be one of the first to enjoy being born into a conflict free era.

Finally, as sleep threatened to overtake him, he decided to let his mother get down to the business of spoiling her first grandchild. His arms now empty, he turned to embrace his wife as he adjusted her pillows so she could rest more comfortably. She stirred at the movement, her eyes resting on his face as she tried to blink away the fog.

"I'm sorry you had to leave your father," she started, her words so low he had to lean in to hear them.

She was such an incredible woman, putting his needs first even now.

"I'm sorry I wasn't here when you needed me," he started, choking back tears. "I wanted to be here for you-"

"You're here now," she interrupted, "and I'm happy."

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"For everything."

"I love you."

"I love you, too."

They drifted off together to the sound of Nanny singing an ancient Altean lullabye, knowing that when they woke it would be to a new reality. Gone were the early morning trainings and late night alarms.

Still, a good night's sleep was a long way away...and they couldn't be happier.

 ****A/N: This is the final chapter of the story but there will be an epilogue. So stick around, we're not finished yet!****


	27. Chapter 27

*see end for important notes*

 **THE EPILOGUE**

The sun was just beginning to peek over the hills of Arus when Nanny arrived at her favorite resting spot. She spread a blanket over the grass and sat down, leaning back on her elbows to enjoy the view. Usually she came out later in the morning, but today was special so she was able to greet the sun properly.

"Ah, it's hard to believe fifteen years have passed already," she sighed. "So much has happened since then."

Her mind wandered back, remembering the last day of the war. Well, she reckoned it was two days later, after all the excitement died down. The team was exhausted and didn't quite know what to do with themselves.

Of course everyone was excited about the new baby and helped the young parents out in shifts. Keith rarely left Allura's side, but had taken to sleeping in another room due to constant nightmares that usually ended with him screaming himself awake. It was a few weeks before he calmed down and was able to join her at bedtime.

The castle-ship was landed on New Altea, and the rebuilding began in earnest. Refugees were taken in from other planets there, as they were on other planets, so there was a population boom that caused some growing pains. The worst of it came when some Galra were relocated there. Even though they had been civilians during the war there was still a lot of distrust amongst the Alteans.

Nanny and Keith had to work hard to overcome those prejudices as well, but they soon won the hearts of the people and were able to build an inclusive society.

Allura eventually decided not to stay on New Altea, however. With the blessing of the Arusians, The Castle of Lions returned to Arus and a new Universal Alliance was founded there. Cities popped up around the castle, but the Arusian village was fully protected under the new order.

The Princess of Altea eventually became the Queen of Arus after the Arusian king had become too frail to continue to rule. She also served as the President of the Alliance, and formed Galaxy Assemblies for local governance.

The lions were also dispersed, this time not to hide them but to offer protection to some of the planets hosting the assemblies. Yellow was sent to the Balmera, Green to Olkarion, Blue to a refugee planet named Lyra, and Red to New Altea. The Black and White lions of course remained with the castle.

It was a decision made after Lotor destroyed the planet Balto. Unbeknownst to the Voltron force he'd been found by Queen Merla, the new Galra ruler, and nursed back from the brink of death. Together they made several attempts to reclaim planets once ruled by the Empire. Luckily most Galra had tired of fighting, instead integrating into other societies, so Lotor's small armies were always readily defeated.

That had been a difficult decision for the team, having to be separated like that. Even though they gathered several times a year they'd all become used to being together daily. They'd become family.

"A family," Nanny smiled, "that's grown so much."

Indeed, it had increased several times over.

After returning to New Altea the team found the young girl rescued by Allura during the attack by Lotor and Haggar. She introduced herself as Serefina Draco1, an orphan who had been living on the streets since then. Coran and Anton decided to adopt her and she thrived under their care. Currently she was in the last year of pre-med, specializing in combat medicine. Her studies had taken her to many different places, including Earth.

That's where she met Raitsumaru "Rai" Sinclair2, the young man who was being knighted the new Red Paladin in the ceremony later in the day. He was a Garrison pilot who flew with Earth's Voltron and was being treated for an injury when they crossed paths. Rai fell hard for Serefina and followed her back to Arus, eventually becoming Nanny's backup pilot.

At the same ceremony they were to knight the new pilot of the yellow lion, a Balmeran named Seido, who was Shay's niece. Hunk and Shay never had children but spent a lot of time with her family, which is why he was willing to give up his place to someone else. Trust was always important for him, and someone he knew well from a young age had plenty of time to earn it.

The rest of the lions would have to wait as their pilots were just beginning training.

Pidge and Lance's eldest, Vince, would be training in the green lion. Matt had been the de facto pilot for a while so his sister could be with her husband when she wasn't on Arus as the castle's Chief of Technology. Vince was a genius who had inherited his mother's intellect. He'd spent most of his childhood training with the Olkari and had a knack for inventing things. He and Daniel were pretty much inseparable, which always tickled Nanny considering who their fathers were.

Lance and Pidge also had twins, Sam and Hiro, who were still in preschool. Sam looked like a mini Lance, and Hiro was a ginger just like her mother. Nanny adored them and offered to babysit every chance she got.

Shiro and Romelle's only child, Larmina, was to train as the new pilot of the blue lion. She was very much a strong mix of her two parents: graceful, intuitive, brave, and disciplined. Her face was a mixture of her father's eyes and mouth, but her mother's nose and ears. She was very much a beauty and had long been Daniel's crush. Larmina was the typical teenager but she was certainly the most promising of the three future paladins, likely to complete her training first.

"Oh, that's right, I didn't tell you the news, did I? Little Daniel starts his training in the black lion tomorrow!" she exclaimed proudly, clapping her hands together.

He'd grown up so quickly she wondered where the time had gone. With his dark hair and indigo eyes she felt like she actually had a chance to watch her own son grow up. Often Daniel would seek her out when she would visit, asking her to tell him stories or to show her something new he'd learned. He certainly had his father's knack for flying and was an excellent fighter; unfortunately he also got his father's impulsivity, which landed him in trouble more often than he'd like.

Still, the black lion chose him and he was going to fight for his spot.

Nanny checked the time and realized that she needed to head back soon. She'd promised Keith a hand with watching the kids while the final preparations were being made. The others would be arriving soon and needed to be greeted as well.

Matt was returning from Olkarion with his family. He'd lived for a time on Mars during the terra-forming and Alliance building phase, even piloting with the Vehicle Voltron Air Team for a while. Before that he'd used his skills to rebuild King Alfor's AI, restoring most of his memories and even adding some from Allura's mother. Allura spent a lot of time in there immediately after, talking to them and asking for advice. Her spirits were always high after spending an afternoon in the chamber.

Keith was so grateful that they actually named their second son Matthew Charles3 after him. (Matt had insisted they have the same middle name so that whenever they were together they'd be _E=MC_ _2_.) The younger Matt was the elder's shadow whenever he would visit, learning as much science as he could manage.

Shiro and Romelle would be arriving from Mars. Romelle had ruled for roughly a decade on New Altea before abdicating in favor of her brother, Bandor. She was always restless after being imprisoned on her home planet of Pollux, and jumped at the idea of leaving as soon as the opportunity presented itself.

For his part Shiro had become the leader of the Earth coalition. Allura wanted someone she trusted to keep an eye on the other Voltron, and the UN needed someone with extensive knowledge of the universe. Mars was chosen as a neutral location and so they settled there. Romelle was the Altean emissary, highly respected as a diplomat and legislator.

Lance and Pidge were arriving from Lyra a bit later, bringing her parents with them. Commander Holt had needed care that couldn't be provided on Earth and so he and his wife, Colleen, had come to live in the castle. Now they divided their time between their children and were currently living with Katie's family.

Lance seemed to have little interest in giving up his spot on the team any time soon, but age was starting to catch up to him. He'd taken up fishing during his down time, especially when Pidge had a big project she was working on. Being the castle's lead technician from so far away meant she travelled a lot and he couldn't always join her, although he tried as often as possible.

Hunk and Shay would be the last to arrive. Hunk had recently started a chain of restaurants throughout several galaxies and was stopping to check in on a few of the newer ones on the way. Once he retired from Voltron they planned to return to Earth to live for a while. Shay had taken up art and was excited to have new landscapes to paint, so Hunk invested in an RV so they could travel the country with ease.

As for Keith and Allura, well, they got their happily ever after. Allura was well loved as the Queen of Arus, and Keith respected as her king. After Matthew they had two more children: Fala, a carbon copy of her mother and already well trained in martial arts as well as the successor for the white lion; and Akira, who was just a few weeks old and currently the recipient of everyone's attention. Because the Queen and King were still considered young by Altean and Galra standards the two were considering growing the family by one more. It seemed that being alone during their younger years influenced their desire for a large family.

It was decided early on to lock the white lion away in the castle. Since there were no survivors from the last battle no one had actually seen it. Of course there were rumors every now and then, something akin to Bigfoot or the Loch Ness monster, but not many took it too seriously. Allura treated it like their "last resort", something that would only be used in the most dire of circumstances. Once Fala was older she would train to fly it using a simulator Pidge was developing.

Because of this Allura herself had retired from being a paladin, although she did occasionally take Red out for a bit when visiting New Altea. Keith had even encouraged her to learn to fly Black in case she ever had to cover for him, not that it ever happened.

Keith was lucky, having three completely different types of genes. It meant he rarely got sick and when he did usually recovered quickly. It also served him well as he could be an ambassador to humans, Alteans, and Galra. This required him to travel quite a bit, but he was sure to never stay away from his family too long.

Even after all this time Allura remained the center of his existence. And he remained hers. Their love story was told and retold across every galaxy: The beautiful Princess and her handsome Paladin, who found each other across space and time.

"Well, I think it's time for me to go, Daniel my love," Nanny spoke as she stood. She reached over to straighten the flowers before lightly touching the cold stone marking his grave. "Keith and the grandkids miss you. I'm sure they'll be thinking of you tonight. I know I will."

* * *

 **Thanks again to everyone who has stayed with me for this journey! A few acknowledgements regarding some friends before I go.**

" **Serefina Draco" belongs to dragonrider1234, who has been so kind to me and helped me with the idea of the Easter Egg hunt!**

" **Raitsumaru 'Rai' Sinclair" is an OC belonging to Strife Airay, the winner of the Easter Egg hunt. Congrats!**

" **Matthew 'Matt' Charles" (Allura and Keith's son) was named for Matt a.k.a. Vhosek. Thank you for your encouragement through this process!**

 **The three of them so graciously allowed me to use their names for the purpose of the epilogue, and I use them with a grateful heart.**


End file.
